Oxfordshire Labour group quits council coalition over SEND failures

Parents of children with special educational needs held a protest in Oxford in November 2022

Labour councillors have quit a council coalition over a damning report on services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ofsted recently found Oxfordshire was failing children with disabilities and special educational needs (SEND).

Oxfordshire County Council's Labour group said its Liberal Democrat partners did not appreciate how much needed to be done to change things.

Council leader Liz Leffman said she was deeply disappointed by the decision.

An alliance of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green Party took over from the Conservative leadership of Oxfordshire County Council in 2021.

Ms Leffman, who leads the Liberal Democrats group on the council, said she had asked Labour group leader Liz Brighouse to resign her position in charge of children's services, which she had refused to do.

"I am therefore deeply disappointed that Labour have decided to leave the Fair Deal Alliance rather than make the changes in leadership that are needed to improve these vital services," she added.

Labour county councillor Damian Haywood, whose son has learning difficulties, quit the party on Saturday over the report

In a statement, the 14-strong Labour group said that the council faced "significant problems" concerning SEND "that require us to work as a team and take collective responsibility".

"Unfortunately, the Liberal Democrats have shown that they aren't interested in working together and instead simply want to score points and pass blame," they added.

On Saturday, Labour councillor Damian Haywood quit the party over the "deeply troubling and upsetting" report.

Mr Haywood, whose son has learning difficulties, said his "self-serving" party had failed to address concerns over SEND leadership.

A representative for the Labour group said it disagreed with his comments as they had previously "secured extra funding for SEND and fought to save transport for SEND parents when it was under threat".