Policy paper

Explanatory memorandum on the Oliver McGowan code of practice

Explanatory memorandum to Parliament about the Oliver McGowan code of practice on statutory learning disability and autism training.

Applies to England

Documents

Explanatory memorandum to the Oliver McGowan code of practice on statutory learning disability and autism training

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Details

This explanatory memorandum (EM) is the government’s written evidence to Parliament about the 2025 revised version of the Oliver McGowan code of practice on statutory learning disability and autism training.

The government ran a consultation on the draft code of practice between 27 June and 19 September 2023. An easy read version of the consultation ran between 4 September and 16 October 2023.

Feedback gathered from the consultation was considered to inform the revised version of the code of practice. The revised version was laid before Parliament on 19 June 2025 (alongside this EM) and published on GOV.UK.

The draft was laid before Parliament for 40 days, during which time either House may have resolved that the code be not approved.

The code became final on 6 September 2025.

Updates to this page

Published 19 June 2025
Last updated 18 September 2025 show all updates
  1. Updated to reflect that the code of practice became final on 6 September 2025.

  2. First published.

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