Anna Sabine MP called on Government to support local councils in providing care for children with additional needs

Anna Sabine MP called on Government to support local councils in providing care for children with additional needs

Speaking in today’s Westminster Hall debate on Government Support for Education, Health and Care Plans, Anna Sabine MP for Frome and East Somerset said the Government must “provide local authorities with extra funding” to manage the care needed for students and children with additional needs. 

Citing a constituent, who has found that despite a diagnosis and medical recognition of need for an Education, Health and Care Plan, her child has slipped through the cracks of the system, Anna called for a clearer and more “straightforward” path for parents to access the support needed. 

Speaking of the “immense financial strain” councils across the country are currently facing, Anna lamented the “woefully under-resourced” system as failing to help support children to thrive and said the Government must begin to properly support councils who are trying to administer the plans for children and families in the region. 

Whilst medical assessors and authorities have become better in recent times at diagnosing and recognising additional needs, particularly in children, the financial and systemic provisions to deliver the care needed is lacking. 

Speaking after the debate, Anna also said “As a society, we are becoming better at recognising additional needs and the provisions required, but without the proper funding for our councils, too many children and adults in need of support are unable to access it. The Government needs to properly invest in supporting the systems that provide care so that help can be available to those who need it now”. 

The full speech is below:

With limited time, I’d like to raise a very specific issue. My constituency of Frome and East Somerset falls under both Bath and North East Somerset and Somerset Councils meaning that there have been instances where children’s specific cases, claims and tribunals fall between two different systems. 

One of my constituents wrote to me about their child, who is 14 and has central nervous system lupus, epilepsy, ADHD and visual and sensory processing disorders. All their needs were documented by an educational psychologist who recommended that their needs be drawn up into an EHCP. 

Despite this medical recognition of an EHCP, as well as the diagnosis, for over a year Bath & North East Somerset and Somerset Council went back and forth over which local authority should take responsibility for the EHCP, because the child’s parents were separated with one in each authority, and the child split their time evenly between the two. This cannot be an uncommon occurrence, and yet there were delays and stress for the family while they waited for their case to come to a tribunal. In the 15 months it has taken to resolve this issue, the child’s mother estimates he has missed 1100 lessons. 

Many local authorities are of course under immense financial strain and I can’t see how this situation can be resolved until the Government relieves councils by providing local authorities with extra funding and by making EHCP applications as simple and straightforward as possible. We are better than ever at diagnosing additional needs, but the system is woefully under-resourced to support children to thrive.