SEND Provision and Funding

Emma Lewell-Buck Excerpts

Thursday 11th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

I also thank the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Sir David Davis) for securing the debate. Back in 2014, during the passage of the Children and Families Act 2014, Labour, alongside a multitude of teachers, local authorities, professional organisations and parents, warned the Government that their rushed reforms would create a postcode lottery of variable provision where many children with SEND would continue to be let down. We warned that unless the proposed reforms were properly funded and proper demographic modelling was carried out to assess the actual number of children and learners who need support, the reforms would fail—and fail they have. Even the Government agree that the reforms have failed, stating in 2019 as they launched a review into SEND that they aimed to

“improve the services available to families who need support”

and end the “postcode lottery” they still face.

After a three-year delay, the Government finally published the review in 2022, highlighting their own failures again: that, too often, children and young people with SEND and those educated in alternative provision feel unsupported and their outcomes fall behind those of their peers. Eventually, in 2023, the Government’s SEND and alternative provision improvement plan and road map were published. Many have concluded that those are insufficient and ineffective given the crisis we face. That view is shared by my constituents, who are absolutely exhausted from having to fight every single step of the way for their child’s education.

Despite our local council’s SEND department coming out of special measures in 2022, our children’s services are now rated inadequate. Despite hardworking council staff and dedicated teaching staff right across South Shields, the situation has not improved for many parents or children with SEND thanks to continued cuts. Assessments are grossly delayed, EHC plans are not being implemented and children are travelling miles out of our borough. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, my constituents are paying for private assessments, private tuition and independent schools. There is simply not enough specialist provision and not enough support in mainstream education.

Costly appeals against EHC plans have risen to a record high since the 2014 reforms—nearly 14,000 last year—yet 98% have been successful, so it is clear that there is something grossly wrong with the system. That is likely only the tip of the iceberg, because many parents do not have the time, energy or financial support to continue legal action. The parents I have spoken to said that they wanted me to use their words in the debate, but not their names for fear of any repercussions. That just shows how threatened they feel by the system as a whole.

It is not just our children who are being short-changed. For young adults with SEND, access to further education is severely hampered by funding cuts. They deplete the sector, which now survives largely on donations and fundraising. As always with this Government, it is charities, community interest companies and others that have to fill the gap left by the state for essential services. Without the North East Autism Society and AutismAble in South Shields, I know that my constituents’ learning needs would not be met.

Access to education should be a fundamental right for all children, no matter who they are, where they are from or what their circumstances. A good education can mean the difference between where someone begins in life and where they end up. People across the House may already know that I struggled throughout my education with undiagnosed dyspraxia and dyslexia. I also did not come from a wealthy or privileged background and was certainly not destined to end up in this place, but I got here through good education, good teachers, work experience and training. Education can make the impossible happen. That is why my party’s goal always has been and always will be for educational excellence for every single child in this country.