Lack of SEND provision is one of most common complaints received by MPs, an ITV News survey shows

ITV News

13 hours ago

The lack of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision across England is one of the most common complaints in MP's inboxes, a survey by ITV News can reveal.
In an anonymous survey sent to all MPs, 70% of the 85 respondents said issues related to special educational needs and disabilities were now among the top five queries from constituents.
In addition, 62% said SEND was coming up more than twice a week in their inboxes – with 17% saying it was now a daily occurrence.
The MPs who responded identified issues related to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP's) – the legal document outlining the necessary support for SEND children - as the most reoccurring complaint, followed by concerns over appropriate school places and lack of support from local authorities.
ITV News' findings come as the government is preparing to reform SEND support, with an update expected in the autumn in the school's white paper.
Demand for SEND provisions has surged in recent years.
More than 1.7 million pupils in England now have special educational needs, up 5.6 per cent from last year.
Meanwhile, a growing number of parents are having to fight local authorities for support, with 24,000 SEND tribunals recorded in 2024/5 - a 36 per cent increase from the last financial year.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says Labour inherited 'a SEND system on its knees" with too many children "not having their needs identified at an early enough stage, creating a vicious cycle of overwhelmed local services and children's support needs escalating to crisis point."
According to Department for Education statistics published on Thursday, the number of children with EHCPs increased to increased to 638,700 - as of January 2025, meanwhile only 46% of plans were issued within the required 20 week deadline.
Government officials told ITV News there remains an active debate about the implementation of EHCPs.
'It currently takes hundreds of bits of paperwork and long delays for a child simply to be advised to see a speech therapist - there needs to be a more efficient way,' one source said.
ITV News understands there are concerns within the Department for Education about how to pitch any possible reforms to parents - with officials acknowledging many have had to fight 'tooth and nail' for the little support they have.
Following reports that changes to support are under discussion, a petition urging the government to 'retain the legal right to assessment and support in education for children with SEND' has already surpassed 100,000 signatures.
We've spent the past few weeks travelling across the country, meeting with MPs and their constituents to understand the scale of the crisis – and it's clear frustration among parents is widespread.
'Every single week, I get parents approaching me with their children, unable to get EHCPs, not getting the support they need in schools,' explained Alex Ballinger, the newly elected Labour MP for Halesowen, in the West Midlands.
'I think it's probably the largest amount of casework of any type of support that people come to me for."
ITV News attended a SEND roundtable with Mr Ballinger, where he heard the concerns from parents and teachers.
The MP says these roundtables help inform his discussions with ministers in the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care, as they continue to work on reforming the sector.
In recent months, the government has ramped up funding to increase inclusivity in state schools.
'As part of our Plan for Change, we already taking the first steps, including more early intervention across speech and language, ADHD and autism to prevent needs from escalating and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools,' a Department for Education spokesperson said.
But Mr Ballinger argued under the current system 'there will never be enough money to make it work in the way that it should be."
His constituent, Natalie Child argues that reform is already too late for her ten-year-old daughter Amelia.
Amelia is autistic and is currently within a state mainstream primary school, but her mother is struggling to obtain an appropriate secondary school place.
'When she first started at her primary school, she was completely non-verbal, completely uncoordinated,' Natalie explained.
'But she has come on so much under their guidance. The teachers on the ground have been good with her, but she won't get that support going up into secondary school.'
Natalie is waiting for an already delayed EHCP review from her local authority and says she has had little communication with their caseworker.
'SEND schools have turned her down because they've said she's not got moderate or severe learning difficulties,' she added. 'So she's not disabled enough for a SEND school, but she can't cope in mainstream and it will restrict her academically.'
Natalie is doubtful that any changes will come in time to benefit her daughter.
'Her school placement is here and now," she insisted."Not in a year, not in five years. It's here and now.'
Many families have told ITV News they feel their children have been failed by a multitude of public bodies from councils to schools.
But Alberto Costa, Conservative MP for South Leicestershire, argues the role played by GPs and NHS trusts also requires further scrutiny.
'We're not reaching breaking point. We've long passed breaking point,' he argued. 'The system has totally failed. Children are being referred by their GPS for assessment and never receive an assessment.'
Parents and MPs say the emotional impact of such delays on the family can't be underestimated.
Stephanie Harris turned to her local MP – Liberal Democrat Monica Harding - last summer after struggling to obtain support for her nine-year-old son Austin who has dyslexia, dysgraphia and anxiety.
'I remember turning up to your (Monica's) office in tears and being at the point where I didn't feel like we could cope and go on as a family,' explained the mother of two.
'I think when you're at the point of applying for an EHCP, the child and the family are probably at their lowest because that's when their needs are highest, but they're not being met.'
Austin remains enrolled at his local mainstream school, but last December Stephanie and the family made the difficult decision to remove him from the setting.
'It went a whole calendar year of struggling to get him into school. He was out of the classroom for a lot of the time. His distress levels were getting higher,' she explained.
The process of obtaining an EHCP for Austin took more than 40 weeks – in the meantime Stephanie and the family have had to source alternative provisions for his education.
'It's been quite isolating. We missed out on a lot of family events. We've probably lost friends throughout the process," she said. "We've spent probably over £10,000 trying to get the right support in place, trying to advocate for Austin.'
Surrey County Council has now agreed to fund an independent placement starting this September, but Stephanie like other parents, stressed that any SEND reform needed to put the needs of the children front and centre.
'I think the curriculum needs to be overhauled," she told ITV News. "I think they need to have different ways of assessing children even from a very, very young age in school.
'Taking away legal rights of parents is something that I worry about and a lot of people that I speak to within the SEND community really worry about.'
Ms Harding, who represents the constituency of Esther and Walton, is among a handful of MPs – elected in July 2024 - who say they have been 'shining a light' on the challenges facing families.
She is critical of what she describes as the 'adversarial' approach adopted by many councils .
'The local authority, whose statutory duty is to the child, have to be more open with the family and work with the family instead of against the family.'
But her big concern is the cases that don't make their way to her inbox.
'These are the ones that we know about, the ones that come to my surgery...The vast majority don't come to me,' she said.
'These are children that are dysregulated, being excluded from school, their life chances are going down the pan because they don't have support in place. So Stephanie is amazing, she's talking for a community, but behind her there are so many children that are missing out.'