Parents call for better support for children with special educational needs

Anna and her husband Pete have three children with additional needs

Struggling to get the right educational support for your child is a battle parents Anna and Pete know only too well.

Their three children, aged eight, six, and four, all have additional needs and are autistic. Two have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), but the family say councils up and down the country are failing some of the most vulnerable children.

The family are taking part in a protest on Monday called Every Pair Tells a Story, which will see pairs of shoes lined up outside council headquarters across England and Scotland. Campaigners say they represent children who have been failed by the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system.

Based in Cheadle, Staffordshire, Anna and Pete's eldest, Vesper, is in mainstream education, but securing her EHCP took 18 months, rather than the 20-week legal deadline set by government.

Thousands of children nationally are waiting for EHCPs to be processed. Last year, just 46.4% were competed in the 20-week target.

Anna said: "These kids are, in a lot of ways, the most vulnerable people in our society, and we're still treated so badly, because we aren't allowed basic rights to access education in the right way, early years intervention is just not there, there are pathways that we don't see."

The family are starting the process all over again with their youngest.

Six-year-old Lochlin attends a special school outside of the Staffordshire County Council area

Their six-year-old son Lochlin goes to a special school out of the local authority area and depends on a taxi and chaperone to get him there, as Anna and Pete both work.

However, they have been unable to find any setting to help care for him outside of term-time.

Anna said even finding a school that could cater for his needs was not easy - he has no sense of danger and the family have had to put in all sorts of measures at home to keep him safe.

"He was pulling the doors off the hinges," Anna said.

"There's a level of danger that we have, that not other parents have, it means we're always in fight or flight, in terms of being ready to intervene."

Across the country, councils are under huge financial pressures due to Send funding.

Not only the cost of processing and meeting EHCPs, but also home-to-school transport, with Herefordshire Council recently hearing that taxi firms were "ripping off" the local authority.

Parents protested outside Parliament in September, calling for reforms to special educational needs

The government's plan to reform Send provision was due to be presented in the autumn, but has been put back to 2026.

Some campaigners have described the situation as "deeply frustrating for parents" but added it was "important that the government takes time to make the right decisions".

The County Councils Network, however, described the delay as "massively disappointing".

Some reports suggest EHCPs might be scrapped completely or the process streamlined.

Janet Higgins, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for education and SEND, said: "Improving SEND provision is one of our top priorities, and we are determined to ensure every child in Staffordshire receives the right support as early as possible.

"The current SEND system is failing families and local authorities alike. It's overcomplicated, under-resourced and financially unsustainable. That's why I wrote to the Secretary of State for Education earlier this year calling for urgent national reform.

"As a council, we are doing all we can, but we need the government's support to deliver the changes our children and young people deserve."

The Department for Education said in a statement that the government inherited a SEND system "on its knees" adding the government was determined to put that right and deliver a better system that supports children and families at every stage.

The schools white paper, due in the new year, is expected to detail changes such as improved training for teachers and an extra £740 million to create more specialist places.

Protest in Shrewsbury

Jodie, who lives near Bishop's Castle in Shropshire, said: "I think every SEN parent has just had enough; its exhausting.

"Parents are just fighting every single day for what the children should already be able to access."

Her son has special educational needs, and she was lending her support to a protest outside Shropshire Council's headquarters in Shrewsbury.

She said there was a lack of trust in the system and that "children don't have access properly to the education that they deserve".

Parents taking part in the protest planned to each take a pair of shoes to represent a child affected by SEN issues.

Jodie said she knew council budgets were tight, but changes could be made to reduce bureaucracy which would not cost a lot of money.