Mum's sleepless nights over council support battle

Amber said a mainstream school would be dangerous for her daughter

The mother of a child with special educational needs says she has had sleepless nights over a battle with Birmingham City Council to secure her preferred school place.

Amber's daughter Ruby has autism spectrum disorder, is non-verbal, and has an eating disorder called Pica, in which sufferers eat non-food items.

Birmingham City Council offered the four-year-old a place in a mainstream primary school for this September.

The school has a "requires improvement" Ofsted rating, including ineffective support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The mother-of-three from Kitts Green had listed a nearby special school as her preferred setting, which she believed had places for September's intake.

Amber, 29, said: "You feel like you're physically in a battle. I'm up a lot of the nights stressing, spiralling, writing letters to get people to listen. I'm in tears all the time."

"I won't be sending Ruby to a mainstream school. All children deserve somewhere to go, a space that's suitable for them, whether you're a neuro-typical child or a child with special educational needs."

Amber said Ruby is a "loving and caring" little girl

The local authority said decisions are based on evidence gathered as part of a needs assessment, in line with the SEND code of practice and associated legislation.

It added: "Families of children due to start primary school in September will receive a finalised Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) later this month. When final EHCPs are received, families have the right to appeal against the school named."

Amber said the council had previously denied Ruby a place in a nursery with special needs provision, because "it would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, and/or the efficient use of the local authority's resources."

She said her daughter is "very loving and caring", and loves Peppa Pig, but is unable to communicate her needs in any way.

Amber said she was prepared to give up work until Ruby is placed in her preferred school

Following a declaration of effective bankruptcy in September, Birmingham City Council announced in December that children's services, which covers special educational needs, is facing a budget shortfall of £57 million in 2024/25.

Sabiha Aziz, who runs the campaign group Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Parent Action Group (SENDPAG), said financial constraints will exacerbate situations like Amber's.

"We're already broken from this fight, and it will only make it more difficult. The need is increasing and the services are decreasing. You will have more parents getting into bigger battles fighting over services."

A government-appointed commissioner, John Coughlan, was brought in to oversee Birmingham's special educational needs service in 2021, over what the council accepted at the time were "fundamental weaknesses" in the system.

Some improvements were made but the commissioner said in 2023 that progress was being hampered by council politics.

Amber is taking her case against Birmingham City Council to a tribunal, which won't be heard until January 2025.

The authority spent an estimated £10m fighting SEND appeals over a seven-year period between 2014 and 2021.