(UK) Hartlepool: 'Increase in numbers of children with SPED needs...increasing levels of needs'

June 23, 2018, (UK) Hartlepool Mail: Hartlepool council slams ‘complete inadequacy’ of special needs funding https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/hartlepool-council-slams-complete-inadequacy-of-special-needs-funding-1-9218826 The Schools Cuts Coalition and 39 local authorities, including Hartlepool Borough Council, have written to the Education Secretary Damian Hinds saying more money is urgently needed. “In Hartlepool, we have seen an increase in numbers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and increasing levels of their needs. “Based on past trends and if the numbers continue to increase at the same rate, we are projecting a 14% increase in the number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan in 2018/19 compared with the number in 2017/18, which clearly demonstrates the complete inadequacy of the current funding…. In their letter to the Education Secretary, the councils and the School Cuts Coalition outlined the situation. They claim over 2,000 children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) are sitting at home with no education provision at all.