Feb 2, 2025, (UK) Oxford Mail: Oxfordshire MP presses the Gov to increase funding for special needs services
SE England
An Oxfordshire MP has called for increased funding and improvements to the educational health care plan (EHCP) process during parliamentary education debates.
EHCPs are designed to provide additional support for children in school.
Starting the process can be difficult, often adversarial, and delays cause stress. In some cases, parents even remove their children from school.
Over the past 10 years, the number of EHCPs in Oxfordshire has doubled from 3,000 to nearly 7,000. Nationally, the number of pupils with an EHCP has risen by 140 per cent.
In Westminster Olly Glover, Didcot and Wantage MP, noted that Oxfordshire's high needs block deficit is projected to reach £77.1 million [$96M], amid a national deficit of around £4 billion [$5B] in England.
The Liberal Democrat MP went on to give the example of a further ‘postcode lottery’, that of services that schools and families can draw upon and spoke of a school in the Didcot and Wantage constituency, St Blaise Primary School in Milton.
Mr Glover said: “I join my colleagues in calling on the government to tackle the crisis in SEND funding by giving local authorities the extra funding they need; this is a national crisis. This must happen now as too many children, families and schools are unable to get the help that they desperately need, and this should not be affected by where they live.
“I welcome the talk of reforms, but we have yet to see the detail; these reforms need to be comprehensive, sustainable, long-lasting, and fully funded with wider support such as therapists, psychologists and other services in place, enabling all our children to thrive.”

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