(UK) Manchester: 'Significant growth' in special needs kids; parents have to fight for basic rights
- The end of childhood
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Feb 8, 2026, Manchester Evening News: Inside the complicated, frustrating world of mums 'fighting for every single thing' for their kids
Multiple parents have come forward to hit out at Manchester council's handling of special educational needs children's lives, claiming they need to go to tribunals for 'basic rights'. The authority says it's invested in provision to meet demand, but experts believe the wider SEN system 'lacks accountability'. Ethan Davies reports.
‘Fights for basic rights’, repeatedly ‘raising’ the same issue, and long waits are plaguing special education needs (SEN) children’s lives when they apply for support from Manchester council, parents say.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has spoken to multiple mums to children with SEN, such as autism and ADHD, who claim their applications for more help were met with refusals by the town hall’s children’s services department - forcing them to wait up to a year for an independent tribunal to make a decision. . . .
The mums, who all took part in a protest outside Manchester Town Hall last autumn, claim Manchester council’s children’s services team have:
Denied an eight-year-old boy an education and health care plan (EHCP) after he was diagnosed with autism, and his school and parents asked for one.
Refused to assess an nine-year-old girl with autism after she was signed off school for months due to ‘major burnout’.
Failed to keep a long-standing volunteering placement for a teenage boy, instead offering ‘to take him out for a burger’.
An eight-year-old girl was out-of-school for 13 months due to delays in sourcing a place - only for new school staff to say ‘they cannot keep her safe’.
Catriona Moore, from IPSEA, the leading charity standing up for SEN families, believes the case studies are examples of a national culture at local authorities where ‘nobody checks what they do’.
She explained: “The same local authority might be taken to the tribunal for the same issue, but nobody says ‘you’ve lost 99pc of appeals on a refusal to assess in the last two years’ there’s a lack of accountability.”
She recognises the mums’ experience of needing to become knowledgeable on the law, wait months for a tribunal, and chase decision-makers. . . .
What Manchester council says
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said the town hall has rapidly increased places to meet SEN demand in the last few years. A statement read: "Like everywhere Manchester has seen a significant growth in the number of children with special educational needs in the city, which puts pressure on services and the demand for special school places.
"In response to this we have created 973 new specialist places since 2020. This includes a new secondary special school - Orchard House - which opened in September 2025, and also four specialist SEND units in primary schools across the city, as well as expansions of existing special schools. We also have plans to create more SEND places in the next few years.
"Alongside this we have also been working closely with the Department for Education as the north west lead local authority, as part of their national SEND Change programme to test out reform of the SEND system. This has included significant investment in specialist multi agency outreach support for mainstream schools to enable them to better meet the increasing number of additional needs in their local communities. . . .
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