Shropshire MP pledges action to fix 'broken system' for children with special educational needs and disabilities
An MP has moved to assure parents that solutions are coming to fix a "broken system" that has "let down" children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Julia Buckley, MP for Shrewsbury, recently hosted a roundtable discussion where parents shared their experiences and frustrations in securing support and provision for their children.
Around 25 local families joined 35 practitioners from Shropshire Council, the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), the BeeU emotional health and wellbeing service, and support organisations including Shropshire Parent Carer Council (PACC) and Neuro-Diverse Education Families at the event last Thursday.
Mrs Buckley said the SEND system had failed large numbers of children, but vowed that major improvements are on the way, following government intervention and investment in extra resources, localised support hubs, and earlier intervention.
She said: "It was a very worthwhile and fruitful roundtable and I was pleased so many families were able to join us.
"We discussed the widespread changes at Shropshire Council’s SEND team following intervention from national government and additional resources under the 'Change Programme' pilot for more localised SEND hubs, early intervention and inclusion in music and sport.
"I agreed with families that for a long time this has been a broken system, letting down scores of children. But, thanks to the new Government, big improvements are now on the way with new investment, radical reform and common sense to fix this system.
"We heard from individual parents and groups such as PACC and Shropshire Neuro-Diverse Families who all shared their experiences in the current system and their feedback for proposed reforms in the pending White Paper."
In March, the Government announced a £740 million investment to deliver adaptations, expand specialist units within mainstream schools, and create new places in special schools - enabling more children to be educated closer to home.
The Government said that fewer than one in 10 mainstream schools have SEND units or resourced provision.
Between 2010 and 2024, the number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), or their previous equivalent, attending independent special schools rose from 7,000 to 26,000, while recent data shows a shortfall of 8,000 places in state special schools.
"My Government is determined to improve the broken system we inherited with, as I say, investment, radical reform and common sense," added Mrs Buckley.
"We have already invested £1 billion, and we heard about the impact locally in terms of hub development, support staff recruitment, mainstream staff training and early intervention.
"We will continue to improve school provision for every child, including SEND."
