Bristol Autism Support group sees demand double
It comes as the city council struggles with funding for special educational needs support
A West Country charity, which supports parents of children with autism, says it saw demand for its services increase by 48 per cent last year.
Bristol Autism Support (BAS), which also operates across Bath and North East Somerset and has more than 4,000 members, says it had 3,062 parents and carers access support in 2023, across a total of 212 sessions.
It comes as it's revealed Bristol City Council has been holding negotiations with central government over a bailout plan for its special educational needs service, with the council currently facing an estimated ÂŁ56 million deficit in its schools budget.
Laura Manning, who volunteers with BAS and is a parent of an autistic child herself said: "Our class sizes are definitely increasing more and more now.
"We're trying really hard to get the message out that we're here, we are a support group.
"We are available online but also in person."
Particularly since the Coronavirus Pandemic, demand for special educational needs and disability (SEND) support, has been on the increase.
"Everywhere is overrun with referrals, applications, a lot of backlog of autism assessments need doing," Laura said.
"It's hard for families who are then just currently waiting, so I think a lot more could be done.
"Starting at the government, filtering down to Bristol City Council and to schools as well."
Last year council officials admitted they knew of nearly 200 children in Bristol with SEND needs who were not getting the care they needed.
Prior to that, in May 2023 it emerged nearly a dozen complaints against the council regarding inadequate SEND provision had been upheld.
Laura's comments come days after it emerged the council is negotiating with the government on a potential bailout plan, worth more than ÂŁ50 million.
Deputy mayor Asher Craig, responsible for education, said last week: “The terms of the agreement are not yet confirmed by the Department for Education (DfE), but we do anticipate it to be in line with the proposal we submitted in January, which will see funding of around £100 million.
"This includes a contribution over five years from central government totalling around ÂŁ54 million, with a contribution from Bristol City Council of around ÂŁ43 million.
“This is a huge opportunity for Bristol to accelerate the reforms needed to help improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, while operating in a financially sustainable way.
"We’re expecting to hear from the DfE whether our submission has been successful by the end of March.”