North Northumberland MP says his report 'shows that the current SEND system does not work'
According to a report by the MP for North Northumberland, nine out of ten families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in his constituency struggle to get the right support.
David Smith’s findings also revealed that only six per cent of the parents whose responses were used to compile the report have a ‘very positive’ EHCP experience, while a quarter have home-schooled their children for a time due to a lack of suitable provision.
The Labour MP said: “My report shows that the current SEND system does not work and no-one trusts it to get better without action.
“This is a crisis of trust between parents, teachers and local authorities.”
He said the Labour Government will “soon be announcing plans to overhaul this broken system” and claimed the “Conservative Party watched the SEND crisis destroy families and were unwilling or unable to fix it”.
In response, a Tory councillor dismissed the report as being “no use what-so-ever to educational professionals and is more about his own self promotion”.
North Northumberland has a higher-than-average number of children who have special support requirements in schools.
Of the 130 constituents who contributed to Mr Smith’s report, the majority who had their EHCP granted on the first application said it took more than 30 weeks to be completed, well beyond the 20-week guideline.
One parent commented: “It took for my child to have a breakdown [and] get medically signed of[f] school before they listened.”
Another wrote that: “Parents need to be listened to, and teachers need to understand neurodiversity isn’t a problem and it isn’t going away.”
Mr Smith said: “Labour is the only party that can create a lasting SEND settlement between parents, teachers and local authorities.
“The Conservative Party watched the SEND crisis destroy families and were unwilling or unable to fix it. Reform UK believe that children who need support are just badly behaved and need to sit down and be quiet.
“Labour will soon be announcing plans to overhaul this broken system and build a better way forward. I’ve shared this report with Bridget Phillipson MP, the Education Secretary, and will continue to serve the parents of North Northumberland by championing our children.”
Coun Guy Renner-Thompson, the county council’s cabinet member for cabinet member for inspiring young people and Northumberland Conservatives chairman, said in response: “The council takes the needs of children in North Northumberland with special educational needs extremely seriously, which is why we are heavily investing in new special schools like Barndale by the Sea in Amble, a new SEND school at Berwick St Mary’s and the proposed specialist SEND unit in the new Berwick Academy.
“David Smith reports opinion from the families of 57 children with EHCP plans. For context, there are 4,300 pupils with an EHCP plan in Northumberland. He hasn’t asked schools, the NHS or the council for their opinion.
“It will be no use what-so-ever to educational professionals and is more about his own self promotion than a serious piece of work.
“His suggestion that qualified teachers should do an online course to better understand SEND pupils is particularly insulting and will no doubt raise eyebrows with the teaching unions.”