Who Is Councillor Sean Gaul?

Councillor Sean Gaul, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People (photo from X)

This past May at OCC’s annual meeting, Sean Gaul, Lib Dem councillor for Bicester East, was elected as cabinet member for children and young people. Cllr Gaul, who himself grew up in Bicester, will be responsible for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children's social care and education.

“I’m honoured and excited to have been appointed to the cabinet at Oxfordshire County Council,” Cllr Gaul posted on his first day at County Hall: 

“I’ve been given the children and young persons brief on OCC, what this means is the directors overseeing huge departments running our education service, youth services, children’s social care, 0-5 year offering and SEND provision in effect reports into one of us, a resident of the county, and it will now be my role to carefully monitor what is going well and what is going less well and to pass policy proposals through my Lib Dem cabinet, through my Lib Dem group of elected OCC councillors, and through the whole OCC council which will support my departments to deliver ever better services for me and you and everyone we care about.”

His appointment comes at a time when there will no longer be a dedicated cabinet member for SEND. More recently, commenting on the SEND budget for the 2025/26 financial year, Cllr Gaul said: “The situation is unsustainable”:

"Here in Oxfordshire, we are absolutely committed to supporting our children and young people with SEND and have committed significant investment in next year’s budget.

"However, we are acutely aware this will still not be enough and national government intervention is urgently needed."

Still, Cllr Gaul’s personal background may guide his approach for making needed improvements:

"Sometimes I’ve felt that life’s odds had been stacked against families like mine and now I’m in this tremendous position of influence sitting at the top table of the county and I want to do everything I can to tilt the odds in the favour of the families who have it tough today.

"In short, those that have the least today I am determined to make sure that they get the absolute most from my appointment."

Here at OxPCF, we look forward to learning more about Councillor Sean Gaul’s approach to Oxfordshire’s SEND improvements and sustainability over the next few years. During this time, we will continue to welcome and depend on your parent carer feedback as we work to advocate for Oxfordshire families.

You can find more information about Cllr Gaul’s on his OCC website profile, including his attendance record, register of interests, and contact information.