‘Its unacceptable children are facing delays to support they need’, says Oxfordshire MP
Oxfordshire MP is urging the Government to invest more funding to help disabled children access support faster
An Oxfordshire MP is urging the Government to allocate more funding to local authorities so that disabled children access much needed support faster.
Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame says, “It’s unacceptable that children are facing delays to get the support they need, and it's also unacceptable that parents all too often have to fight the system.
“That's the last thing they need when they’re supporting a child with special educational needs and disabilities, but it is the result of over a decade of underfunding of local government by the Tories.”
He added: “Parents tell me that they have been having to fight a system that actively seems to work against them. That's not right, we need to be doing more to support parents and children with such educational needs.
Mr van Mierlo is urging the government to invest more money in councils help solve the problem.
He said: “Local authorities have had to make invidious decisions on what to fund, whether that's social care, children services, road maintenance, or other essential services.
“It’s welcome that in Oxfordshire we've seen above inflation rises year on year for children services, but it's an area that's constantly under pressure and we need to see more support from central government to local government to meet the rising demand.”
The Henley and Thame MP also outlines that “we need to see an increase in the number of special school places”.
He says, “it's not true that every child can be mainstreamed and it's not appropriate for all children. We need to see more funding for teaching support assistance, especially in areas like Oxfordshire where the cost of living is so high and it's difficult to recruit for those positions.”
A government spokesperson said:
“This government inherited a children’s social care system failing to meet the needs of this country’s most vulnerable children and in dire need of reform.
“As part of our Plan for Change, we’re ensuring thousands more families will have the support of a specialist worker to help them overcome challenges, including managing a child’s disabilities, by doubling council funding for early intervention from this year.
“We’re also thinking differently about what the SEND system should look like, starting by investing £1 billion into SEND and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.”