SEND parents in Northamptonshire meet with MPs
The group met in Westminster to discuss needs for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
A group of Northamptonshire MPs has met with concerned parents over issues in amenities for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
West Northants SEND Action was formed in 2022 following a calls to address what's deemed a "crisis" of care for these children. The group say some parents have been waiting four years for help with getting their child into education.
Founder Lauren Bunting says she knows mums and dads who feel abandoned.
"The picture locally and nationally is pretty horrendous. There are huge numbers of children who aren't receiving an education at all."
"Children are at home for four years, just abandoned"
Lauren says she'd like to see children's voices and experiences at the centre of decisions for them:
"Everything is done to us and our children and we just aren't considered in it, and ultimately we know our children best."
Despite a good relationships with many local MPs, they struggle to see any progress with their issues.
Recently both Northamptonshire councils have had to pay out more than £10,000 between them in compensation following problems with their educational provision for children with specialist needs.
Both complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) involved delays in issuing education health and care plans (EHCPs), which led to failures in securing alternative provision for the young pupils who were faced with permanent exclusions from their mainstream schools.
The Ombudsman ordered NNC to apologise for the “avoidable distress and inconvenience caused” and make a payment of £7,700 to reflect the loss of three terms of special educational provision the boy should have received.
In West Northants, another family has been awarded £3,300 by the authority as a result of special educational needs failures for their son.
West Northamptonshire Council has previously told us they are addressing complaints and feedback from service users and an improvement plan is in place.