Education, Health and Care Plans
Danny Beales Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) for securing this important debate today.
To be frank, SEND support in Hillingdon is poor and getting worse. In Hillingdon, there has been a 40% drop in the number of families getting their determination for an ECHP within the 20-week statutory limit since 2015. The situation is worsening. Conservative funding cuts locally, a lack of planning for specialist school places, rising demand and a shortage of specialists have all contributed to increasing waiting times and poor provision. Unfortunately, the situation is only going to get worse. Hillingdon council is proposing a £7 million cut to local schools this year and potentially next year, which goes against the principles of mainstream inclusion and collaboration in the education system. It will undoubtedly make the deficit worse. I hope Hillingdon council thinks again and that the Department holds it to account to do so.
I want to raise the issue of homeless and displaced families. I have been contacted recently by a number of families fleeing domestic violence or experiencing homelessness who have moved with an EHCP into the borough, but the borough not taking up its duty of care and providing support. It is simply unfair for families to have to go back to the start of the EHCP process.
We have heard compelling evidence from a number of places. I ask the Minister what support is in place to ensure system improvement and to hold local leaders to account, so that children in Hillingdon will no longer be failed.
Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND
Danny Beales Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing such an important debate. In my casework, I have been inundated with issues around special educational needs, and transport is a major factor. I will make two quick observations that I hope the Minister will reflect on in any review of the framework.
First, the nature of families today often does not reflect the assumptions of previous years. I have had cases where parents who co-parent and share equal custody across different boroughs are caught up in arguments between the two boroughs about who is the lead parent. The parents simply say, “We share custody 50:50, so we need mechanisms to overcome that barrier.”
Secondly, increasing numbers of families are in temporary accommodation outside their traditional borough, and they find it very hard to get continuity in school transport for their children. They still want them to go to their hard-fought-for special educational needs school, but that would require changes in transport, and authorities are slow to make them. I hope that the framework will reflect the increasing numbers of families who are, unfortunately, homeless and in temporary accommodation.