The Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Wokingham, Clive Jones, has urged the government to take urgent action to improve the delivery of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support for children and their families.
In his speech during the Westminster Hall debate on ‘SEND Provision for Kent’, the Wokingham MP raised that many families in Wokingham have informed him of the difficulties they’ve faced in securing adequate SEND provision.
Clive Jones said: “One constituent wrote to me that increasing specialist school places is essential, but schools are reporting that they cannot offer SEND places because of workforce shortages, not just because of a lack of building space.”
The Wokingham MP then explained that the constituent is calling on the Government to create new places for children with SEND and to build specialist workforce capacity, which would include therapists, specialist teachers and educational psychologists.
Following this, Clive Jones made his own calls for reform of SEND provision, including introducing fast-tracked training pathways for teaching staff in order to tackle the current backlog.
He also urged the government to ensure that minimum SEND training would be guaranteed for staff, as well as retaining current specialist staff who face high caseload pressures.
Ending his speech by addressing Tony Vaughan MP, the Labour member of parliament for Folkestone and Hythe, Clive Jones asked if the minister agrees that the government must listen to families with negative experiences of the SEND system.
Following the speech, Clive Jones, the Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham said: “All children deserve to have their needs met and feel supported in school, and it is devastating to continue to hear from families that they are struggling to find this in mainstream schools.
“This is failing children and young people with SEND across the country, which is why I urged the Government to introduce the series of essential measures put forward by a constituent and myself.
“Ensuring that teaching staff are supported and trained to meet the diverse needs of children is crucial if we are to build an inclusive education system.
Every child, regardless of their circumstances, deserves the opportunity to thrive.”
