Life is usually a battle for families with disabled children or those with special educational needs. The financial, emotional and practical challenges that parents encounter on a daily basis can be difficult – facilitated by a system that can be unsupportive and overly bureaucratic.
Shockingly, in Britain today four in 10 disabled children face a life of poverty. And a recent study by Scope found that a lack of support for families with disabled children, particularly in their local area, means that too many parents are forced to travel hundreds of miles each week just to get their children to a supportive school or therapy session.
To help address these challenges, the government is introducing some of the biggest changes to SEN provision for 30 years as part of the children and families bill, which is currently in committee stage in parliament. This will sit alongside reforms the government has introduced to the education system over the past few years. The government’s ambition to create a less adversarial system is welcome, but concerns remain about what impact the bill will have.
As an MP with family experience of the SEN system, I have sought assurances that no child who currently has an SEN statement will see any diminution of their legal rights when these statements are replaced with the new joint education, health and care plans. And, although these reforms are intended to be an improvement on the current system, which can be a difficult, emotional and long-drawn-out process, it is estimated that only 13 per cent of disabled children or those with SEN will actually be entitled to one.
Furthermore, the government has said that it will require local authorities to publish what will be known as a ‘local offer’. The purpose of this offer is to set out what support is available to families with disabled children in each local area. More transparency in the system is welcome, but it would be a missed opportunity if this simply amounted to the equivalent of a local ‘Yellow Pages’ of SEN provision. More must be done to ensure public bodies have a duty to improve and integrate local services allowing more families to get the support they need closer to home.
When it comes to improving support for disabled children and those with SEN, more can be done to make the children and families bill work even better for the people who need it most. That’s what all MPs should be doing when it comes back to parliament for its report stage.
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Jonathan Reynolds is MP for Stalybridge and Hyde. He tweets @JReynoldsMP
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