(UK) Bucks: Council facing $58M SPED deficit; parents protest SEND failure
- The end of childhood
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Nov 4, 2025, Bucks Herald: SEND protests: Shoes left outside Aylesbury building during peaceful demonstration
Near London
Dozens of families in Buckinghamshire took part in a silent protest outside the council offices in Aylesbury.
Protesters left shoes outside the council offices in Walton Street yesterday, as part of a protest raising awareness around SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) services in Buckinghamshire and across England.
Called the ‘Every Pair Tells a Story’ volunteers and participating families were asked to leave a pair of children’s shoes outside the council building.
Each pair of shoes left outside the council building is said to represent a child who has been let down by local SEND services and/or the national education system.
At the start of this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed
that Buckinghamshire Council was facing a £44.3m [$58M] funding deficit linked to special education plans.
Data recorded by the LDRS showed that the rising number of children needing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) was putting a great strain on the authority’s services. It has also been revealed that the council has been ordered to pay compensation to families when there were delays in completing EHCPs.
Buckinghamshire Council has previously told reporters it is ‘working hard’ to address issues with the SEND system. It told the LDRS that it was working hard to address a shortage of educational psychologists recruited within the council area.
Aylesbury’s demonstration was one of over 90 similar protests organised across the country by The SEND Sanctuary UK. A spokesperson from the demonstration group said: “This movement is not only for children missing from education. It stands for every child whose needs have been ignored, misunderstood or dismissed. It is for those isolated in classrooms without the right support, pushed into unsuitable mainstream schools, or waiting months and years for EHCPs.”
They talked about how SEND services and delays to education plans can cause ‘heartbreak’ and ‘exhaustion’ among families of children who require extra support. Over 7,000 EHCPs were maintained by the council at the start of 2025.
Over a 10-year period a 112% rise in demand for EHCPs has been recorded, according to figures from the LDRS.
The latest Ofsted report released earlier this year found the SEND services in Buckinghamshire ‘requires improvement’.
