Special needs

Service needs more money

LIFE THROWS up more than enough challenges for children with special educational needs without their parents having to worry that the support they need at school is being undermined by budget cuts.

But that is exactly the position in which families find themselves. The coalition of unions and local authorities which has written to the Government expressing serious concern about levels of funding for SEN raise an issue that needs to be addressed.

It cannot be right that some of the most vulnerable children are being denied the help that they need as a consequence of Government spending restrictions. There is no alternative source of support that they can turn to outside their schools.

This raises hard questions for the Government to which it must provide answers. What is to become of these children if they are deprived of the help they need? What consequences will their families have to face and how are they to be expected to cope without proper expert aid?

Support for these children does not come cheap, and the Government must accept that it is a public duty to provide schools with the resources necessary. Teachers are already under enough pressure without being stretched further in an attempt to bridge funding gaps.

It is simply unacceptable to have a situation – including in four Yorkshire local authorities – where more than 2,000 children are without access to education, and many more receive inadequate support. The Government must rethink funding in this area as a matter of urgency.