Over the past few months, I have received a lot of correspondence from parents concerned about the quality of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision at local schools.
In March, the Government published its SEND Improvement Plan. The plan will cut local bureaucracy by making sure the process for assessing children and young people’s needs through education health and care (EHC) plans is digital-first, quicker and more efficient. To support schools, parents and children, the Government has increased investment in SEND provision by more than 50% compared with 2019-20, to over £10 billion by 2023-24.
Anyone has the right to request an assessment for their children, but it is clear that Telford & Wrekin is not delivering proper support for children that need it. I have visited many schools across Telford and SEND provision is the issue most frequently raised. Post pandemic, there have been high rates of speech, language and developmental delay amongst children and it is important that all of us in politics work together to deliver for them.
There are a shortage of SEND places in Telford and it is incumbent on the local authority to provide a better service for children and parents. However, like on many issues, the publicity-obsessed Council leadership has chosen to try and hide its failings and manage glaring failures in private. This is not a moral or sustainable way to deliver services for residents. There appears to be a pathological inability for Telford & Wrekin Council to admit its own failings in public. Issues are regularly swept under the carpet or blamed on Government and residents are not fooled.
I am not satisfied with the Council’s response to SEND. Councillors have suggested that concerns should be expressed in “private workshops with the council’s officers”. As the MP who is raising these issues with the Council, no invitation has been extended to me to discuss with officers how we can improve SEND provision. There is a severe lack of transparency around council decisions and they seem too often to mark their own homework in private, rather than engage with MPs and the public.
Parents and residents rightly expect issues in the system to be publicly discussed in order for the right solutions to be found. The local authority and your Councillors should be working to solve solutions, not hiding their poor record of delivery. We have some amazing schools in Telford and they deserve the support from the local authority that they are entitled to. Children must not be failed by poor leadership.
I would encourage all residents who are concerned about SEND provision to get in touch directly with my office to share your experience. The views of my constituents are crucial to informing my work in Parliament and enable me to bring your concerns directly to the attention of Ministers.
