Parents left feeling 'rejected' over lack of SEND holiday care for children

Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have told the BBC a lack of suitable childcare over school holidays has left them feeling "rejected".

Figures shared with the BBC from the charity Coram, show that only one in 20 councils in England say there is enough childcare available for SEND children during the school holidays.

It also found that in some areas - including London, Yorkshire and the East Midlands - there were no councils with sufficient childcare available.

Councils say more funding and a larger workforce is needed.

Amy Walker says she is unable to work because of having to look after her five-year-old son Charlie, who is autistic, during school holidays.

Some disabled children need structure and routine to reduce anxiety and challenging behaviour, and Amy is worried about the effect spending the whole summer at home will have on Charlie.

"I'm absolutely dreading it. Six weeks of not having that routine is not good for any child, but a child with autism… it's going to have an impact on all of us as a family."

Amy's older son Cory, 12, has previously attended holiday clubs but she finds it impossible to find affordable care for Charlie. She would like councils to organise clubs for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

"You don't want to see one of your children accepted and the other one rejected. I don't think Charlie should be discriminated against just because he has a disability - it's not fair," she said.

In findings shared with the BBC, Coram asked English local authorities whether there was sufficient childcare in all areas. Of the 126 (80%) who responded, only six councils (5%) said yes.

Councils in 23 areas (18%) said there was not enough childcare available, while 36 (29%) said it was only sufficient in some areas, and 61 (48%) said they were not able to tell whether it was.

The provision of holiday provision for children with additional needs was similar in Scotland, where no councils reported having enough childcare available in all areas, and in Wales, where only 5% of councils said there was adequate provision. Coram did not collect data for Northern Ireland.

In a different survey of 1,800 parents of children with SEND by the charity Contact and the Disabled Children's Partnership, nine in 10 said they were not able to find a suitable holiday club or activity.

Local authorities in England have a legal duty to make sure there is sufficient childcare available for children aged up to 14 whose parents work or want to work. For parents of disabled children, this extends to age 18.

While there is a legal duty to provide provision, it does not have to be paid for by the local authority, so it can be unaffordable for many.

Una Summerson, head of campaigns at Contact, said it wasn't uncommon for a family to be quoted more than £150 a day for a holiday club for their disabled child.

The government's holiday activities and food programme is available for low income families and provides funded childcare as well as a meal. Amy said Cory had previously attended them, but there was nothing on offer through this for Charlie due to his additional needs.

Not only can the costs be prohibitive, Ms Summerson said her charity had "also heard from families that said when they had been able to find the right childcare it was often oversubscribed, there were huge waiting lists so it's having an absolutely devastating impact on families".

Coram's research found that in large parts of England - including London, the South West, Yorkshire and the East Midlands - there were no councils with sufficient childcare available for disabled children in all areas. The areas with the best provision were the North West and North East, with 14% and 11% respectively.

Louise Gittins from the Local Government Association said "councils worked closely with childcare providers to improve access to holiday childcare... but without concerted investment and recruitment of quality staff this will be difficult to deliver."

She added: "Adequate funding, skilled practitioners and wider system support are essential to the early identification of need and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, as set out in the government's own SEND and alternative provision improvement plan earlier this year."

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the government is "investing £30m to test new and innovative approaches to short respite breaks for families of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities".

"Our holiday activities and food programme, backed by £200m per year to 2025, provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families over the holidays."