By Leeds South West & Morley MP Mark Sewards
This summer, as well as making visits to businesses, community groups and engaging in my regular door knocking, I’ll be working hard on a solution to a crisis that effects every single one of our schools.
One of the key issues that residents have consistently raised with me since my election, is
the crisis in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision in our schools.
Many parents across Leeds South West & Morley are facing the same issues when trying to
ensure their children receive the correct level of support for their needs.
The current system for SEND provision is broken and no longer fit for purpose.
As well as speaking to parents, I have visited primary and secondary schools across the constituency who have relayed to me the impossible task they now face with supporting the number of children with SEND under the current framework.
I have also witnessed this first hand, during my time as a maths teacher; school budgets got tighter and tighter and the number of pupils needing support increased.
This effects every school in the country and cannot continue.
This Autumn, the Government is due to announce an overhaul of the system. In my role as a member of the Education Select Committee, I have been working with fellow members to
conduct an inquiry into the SEND crisis.
This inquiry has looked at all aspects of the current system, including Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), training for education providers and how different regions are affected by the challenges.
It has also taken written and verbal evidence from educational experts, policymakers, teachers and parents to ensure we have considered how the current system operates for all perspectives.
At the conclusion of this inquiry, the committee will present the government with a set of recommendations ahead of their own announcement. I will share more details on this work once my committee colleagues and I have finalised our recommendations.
However, ahead of any proposals, I would like to say that any changes to the SEND system
must prioritise meeting the needs of students whilst ensuring providers can remain
financially stable.
In addition to teaching provision, another issue in relation to SEND which I know is of great
importance to parents, is the funding of post-16 school transport.
Local authorities currently have no legal obligation to provide free transport for SEND students who have completed their compulsory education, and many are scaling back their school transport offer to these children.
Whilst I fully understand the financial pressures local authorities are facing, this transport
funding is a lifeline for many students in allowing them to get the qualifications they need to succeed in life.
The government has a responsibility to develop long-term solutions to this crisis.
We should accept nothing less than wholesale reform to our SEND system so that it is inclusive and no longer requires students to travel miles away from where they live to receive the support they need.
Until we’ve made these changes, I believe that the law should be changed so the local authorities have a statuary commitment to fund transport for SEND students between
the ages of 16-19.
I challenged the Minister for Skills to do just that at a recent sitting of the
Education Select Committee.
I encourage any readers who live in Leeds South West and Morley with negative
experiences of the SEND system to contact me and share their experiences. I will use all
these experiences to inform my work on this over summer.
Every child deserves and excellent education. It’s time to solve the SEND crisis.
Thank you Mark for the hard work you are doing.
Can you also look at the issue of academy trusts, while nearly all schools are struggling with their very tight budgets some of the Multi Academy Trusts have 10s of millions of pounds in their banks and are paying their heads six figure salaries. This cannot be right.
Failing schools often become Academies, would it be possible to change the law to allow Academies to rejoin the local education authority.
Another option might be to insist all Academy Trusts are nonprofit organisations and caps are put on salaries. This way businesses will not create vast profits from our children’s education.