SEND Provision: London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Margaret Mullane) for securing this crucial debate.

Children with special educational needs have just as much potential as other children, and they deserve to have that potential nurtured. But for boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham, there is an urgent problem with SEND provision. As my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham has eloquently described, chronic underfunding and under-resourcing of vital SEND services has led to a critical situation whereby children are not getting the support that they need and parents are facing a constant battle and excessive waiting times to secure any support for their child. Last year in the borough, only 50% of decisions on EHCP needs assessments were made within six weeks, the rest taking much longer.

I know that this is a problem facing all boroughs, but it is particularly acute in Barking and Dagenham, which has a higher proportion of people applying for EHCP needs assessments than other boroughs. In my constituency, which is home to the boroughs of both Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham, the rate of disability is far higher in wards such as Marks Gate, which is the only ward in Ilford South that falls under Barking and Dagenham.

Against this backdrop of underfunding and comparatively high demand, Barking and Dagenham has a lot to be proud of. As my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham said, in 2024 the borough was recognised for effective practice in a report by What Works in SEND. However, there are some problems that good practice and perseverance cannot fix. The crisis in SEND stems from the wider issue of changing demographics and an outdated funding formula that has not kept up. Ilford South and the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge may be outer-London areas, but they are facing inner-London problems.

[Andrew Rosindell]

The hon. Member mentions Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge, but Havering is also in outer Greater London, and Marks Gate is next to Collier Row, as he knows. We are all underfunded. There is a total disparity when it comes to funding for outer Greater London areas. Will the hon. Member back my ongoing campaign for fairer funding not only for special educational needs but for a range of areas, because our boroughs on the edge of London and in Essex constituencies which fall within Greater London are not getting our fair share of resources?

[Jas Athwal]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that point. As a matter of fact, as leader of Redbridge council, I campaigned for many years for outer London funding to be fairer. Outer London has inner-London problems, but we are not getting our fair share of funding. I would be happy to get involved on the funding needs of outer London. I mentioned Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge because my constituency falls in both of them, but I agree that other outer London boroughs such as Havering will suffer similar consequences.

Our outer-London boroughs face inner-London problems that diminutive outer-London funding packages cannot fix. If we are to fully support all children by providing them with the tailored support that they need, and if we are to unlock their potential, we need serious reform. I stand with my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham in calling for three key reforms.

First, we need a change to the outdated funding formula that puts boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering on the back foot. Secondly, we need more funding for additionally resourced provisions, so that children with special educational needs can be supported in mainstream schools, and can reap the benefits of learning in a mainstream environment—benefits that include a reduction in emotional distress, and better educational outcomes—while teachers are given the resources they need. Thirdly, we need a more streamlined process of needs assessment, so that parents are not left alone to fight for the provision that their children need and deserve.

Every child has the right to thrive, to achieve their dreams, and to be supported in their environment, even if they learn a little differently, but SEND provision is struggling. We owe it to children to fix the system. We owe it to their parents to support their children to thrive.

Family and Work Visas

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna) on securing this debate. She spoke very eloquently and with a lot of knowledge and passion, as well as a real grasp of the issues at hand. I thank her for the way in which she introduced the topic.

The problem affects local families not just in Northern Ireland but right across the UK. In my constituency of Ilford South, immigration and visa issues are among the most common that people raise with me, and my office has had over 15 cases this week. As the hon. Member said, it is having an impact on our economy and the fabric of our society, and it is tearing families apart.

People choose to make the United Kingdom home for many reasons, often due to close family ties, historical links and pressing needs, and of course for a better way of life, to which I can attest—my family came here 50-odd years ago for a better life. I would like to think that we have contributed to society here. Unfortunately, as has been highlighted, many people face a needlessly hostile system that is rigged with barriers, which in the worst cases quite literally tear families apart.

I will share the story of a family in Ilford South. My constituent, Dr Siddiqui, is a fully qualified medical doctor, who not only had cared for people in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia but had brought his talents and much-needed skills here to the UK. This chap spent his whole life helping people, but he was put in an impossible situation by a system that is rigged against some of the talent that we are trying to attract. Dr Siddiqui’s wife, who is also a fully qualified doctor, had to make the heartbreaking decision to leave her husband in the UK to look after their severely disabled daughter because the daughter’s visa was turned down.

We were at risk of losing two fully qualified medical doctors. Thankfully, following an intervention, the Home Office reviewed the decision and the Siddiqui family were reunited in Ilford South, but not before they had endured incredible hardship trying to work through an unknown, often challenging and entirely unnecessary system.

The Siddiqui family’s story thankfully has a happy ending, but sadly many other families have not been so fortunate and remain separated by the complicated and inaccessible visa system. If Dr Siddiqui had been a social worker—another essential and desperately needed profession—neither his wife nor his disabled daughter would have been eligible to join him here in the UK, and we need to look at how we can change that system. We must always remember that, with the changes to the eligibility criteria, there are have significant human costs, as well as the economic loss to this great nation. We risk the economic growth of our country, which is desperately needed, in addition to the very fabric of our society, which will be much poorer if we do not address the issues raised by the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down.

[Mark Pritchard (in the Chair)]

I remind hon. Members that this is a 60-minute debate. There is no formal time limit right now, but I encourage everybody to stick to around four minutes.