Michael often receives casework from the parents of children with Special Education Needs & Disabilities regarding their schools placements and further provisions required from the Local Authority, including home to school transport. The issue has become more prominent in the wake of the pandemic.
Michael has experienced a noticeable increase in the amount of correspondence received from parents who had been having difficulty navigating the Local Authority’s SEND provision service. A number of parents reported delays in securing the appropriate EHCPs for their children, as well as further delays when subsequently approaching the tribunal service.
March 2022 – Michael wrote to Surrey County Council to raise the issue and ask what is being done to cater for the increased demand for the service, and requested a meeting with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for All Age Learning so that the matter could be discussed in full.
April 2022 – Michael held the above meeting in which the Council explained that services were being stretched as unprecedented amount of families were seeking support, and that they were working on ways to improve the service for families.
October 2022 – As levels of emails from concerned parents continued to increase since his April meeting, Michael contacted his fellow Surrey MPs to ask if they too had recognised a similar upward trend in correspondence. Upon learning that many of his Surrey colleagues’ had been experiencing a similar shift, Michael contacted Surrey County Council to invite the All Age Learning team to Parliament for a meeting to discuss the matter.
December 2022 – Michael convened a meeting with Cllr Clare Curran, Liz Mills (Director of Education & Lifelong Learning) & Tracey Sanders (Assistant Director), together with several other Surrey MPs, in Parliament. A number of issues were raised in the meeting, such as the shift in demand following the pandemic, tribunal delays, home to school transport, and the particular areas of provision in EHCPs that the Council and schools were having difficult providing. Regarding the uplift in demand, the County Council subsequently produced an information sheet outlining the extent to which the landscape has changed in recent years, and you can find it at the bottom of this page. Michael and his colleagues were reassured to hear about all the work that the County Council is doing to overcome the challenges it has been facing in order to ensure that access to these vital SEND services is readily available for families in need of support.
Michael understands that the Council is continuing to finetune the process by which parents secure the support they need for their children. He asked to be kept up-to-date with the progress being made, and has requested data to evidence any changes. He will be sure to share any news as soon as he has it.
