Girl who attempted taking her own life highlighted during debate on poor SEND provision in Hertfordshire

During the 30-minute debate on Wednesday (September 4), Labour MP for Hitchin Alistair Strathern pointed to delays in the Education, Health and Care Plan (ECH) assessment process, as well as in the provision of SEND support and appropriate school places.

He said “far too many families” were having to battle an appeals system to secure the support children needed and fighting those appeals was costing Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire councils “eye-watering amounts”.

He raised questions about funding allocations – with Hertfordshire having one of the lowest high needs block funding allocations in the country – and about workforce.

And he highlighted the impact of the system on children, young people and their families.

“A system that is letting down children with additional needs is a system that is letting down children full stop,” he said.

“And it simply should not be a system that any of us tolerate any longer.”

Throughout the debate MPs from across the county pointed to the impact the system was having on individuals.

Mr Strathern said his staff had been “blown away” by the number of families who had contacted him in advance of the debate to detail the struggles they had faced.

He highlighted young people who, he said, had been “pushed to the brink by the lack of appropriate support”.

Among them, he said, were those “whose mental health has spiralled to the point that many of them felt they could no longer be in day-to-day education”.

One young person, he explained, was “feeling isolated and alienated by the delays in getting the right support in place at school” and felt she had no other option available than to attempt to take her own life.

“What more damning indictment of our failure could there be?” he asked.

Hemel Hempstead MP David Taylor (Labour) also pointed to “countless stories of families feeling dire frustration” including a mother of two children with SEND – one of which had been refused one-to-one support and had not had an academic education for six years.

Mr Strathern pointed to the 2023 Ofsted report that had painted “a damning picture of local provision and the challenges families were facing” in Hertfordshire.

The November report revealed a team of inspectors – from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission – identified ‘widespread and/or systemic failings’ in the provision of SEND services in Hertfordshire

He acknowledged moves to boost specialist school capacity and the council’s ‘making SEND everybody’s business’ approach along with “early actions” that were being taken by government.

During the debate, Hertfordshire was said to receive the third lowest level of high needs funding in the country.

And Mr Strathern talked about making sure funding formulas allocate resource to match need.

But he also pointed to the need for a workforce strategy, suggesting a shortage of professionals such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists was exacerbated by the county’s proximity to London.

During the debate St Albans MP Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat) acknowledged the “recent” progress in the delivery of SEND in Hertfordshire.

But she said much of this had only started since the “most recent damning Ofsted report”.

In response to the debate, Minister for School Standards Catherine McKinnell said improving the SEND system across the country was a priority for the government.

She said this included improving services for children and young people with SEND in Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Despite high needs funding having increased, she acknowledged confidence in the SEND system was low, that tribunal rates are increasing and that there are increasingly long waits for support.

She said the government was committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and ensuring special schools can cater to those with the most complex needs.

And she said that they wanted “to restore parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need to flourish”.

She said the system was in “desperate need of reform”. But she warned that there were “no quick fixes”, adding the government is acting as quickly as it can to respond to the cost pressures.

Addressing the concerns, she said: “We are all passionate about the SEND outcomes in his local area and right across the country.

“We recognise that the system needs to improve, we recognise the hardship that many families are facing, and we are determined that that will change.”

Following the debate, Mr Strathern said: “Every child deserves to reach their full potential, but for so many children with SEND in Herts and Central Bedfordshire, this simply isn’t the reality.

“It’s been heart breaking to hear parents’ testimonies, many driven to despair by a system that too often feels against them, fighting at every step of the way, endless waits for EHC plans and assessments and in some cases, rescinded school places.

“At the heart of this debate are thousands of children being failed, pushed out of school with spiralling mental health difficulties. It’s unacceptable.

“Our new Labour government is cause for hope that this crisis is finally being addressed. I was pleased to hear from the Minister that fixing SEND is a priority for the Department, and work is ongoing with parents, schools, and councils to develop long term solutions to tackle these issues.”