Former Labour MP for Mid Bedfordshire Alistair Strathern is demanding Central Bedfordshire Council and the government listen to families of local children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) about the pressures they face.
Mr Strathern, now the Hitchin MP, urged education ministers in a statement to put “their concerns at the heart of the government’s reform agenda”.
His plea for much-needed support around this area of education follows recent “packed meetings” held in Arlesey, Bedfordshire and his constituency town in Hertfordshire. He hosted the two local forums attended by parents and carers earlier this month.
The two sessions were at Arlesey Village Hall and at Highover School in Hitchin, “to hear first-hand the challenges families face in securing the support their children need”.
He said: “Parents spoke of a lack of early support, long delays in assessments, a lack of focus on inclusive practices in schools, and the financial and emotional strain caused by a system many feel is stacked against them.”
Mr Strathern intends to write to the Education Secretary, Central Bedfordshire Council and Hertfordshire County Council to press for urgent improvements to local SEND services and to share the testimony of parents.
The MP has been campaigning for a better deal for SEND families since entering Parliament, supporting families in securing education, health, and care plans (EHCPs) and specialist placements.
Fighting for basics
He also met local headteachers and special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) to understand the pressures schools face.
“Families dealing with SEND across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire are being let down by a system that too often makes them fight for the basics,” he explained.
“I’ve heard moving and powerful testimonies from parents, who simply want their children to get the support to which they’re entitled. The government must act to deliver a system which is fair, timely and puts children first.
“It’s clear the problems are systemic, but the human cost is being felt right here in our communities. I’ll keep standing up for these families in Beds and Herts until we see the changes they deserve.
“I’ll be making sure the Education Secretary and our councils can’t ignore what I’ve listened to today,” he added.
Read: Child with SEND in Central Bedfordshire ‘worth three times less’ than one in London
Parliament was warned during a debate last year that “the current model of SEND funding is inconsistent and profoundly unfair in too many cases, while failing to account for genuine levels of need, the realities faced by families, and the systemic pressures that schools and local authorities are under”.
Unless that changes, “children would continue to be failed”, the debate was told. “Too little attention is given to the distribution of the funding that exists, whether in healthcare, education, policing or otherwise.
“MPs are turned to by constituents at their wits’ end, trying to navigate what feels to be a broken system.”
Mr Strathern previously chaired a Westminster Hall debate on the state of SEND provision in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, with the support of other MPs serving the two counties.
Arlesey, Clifton, Fairfield, Henlow, Langford, Meppershall, Shefford and Stondon are included in his current constituency, after boundary changes were made ahead of the 2024 General Election.
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
