Education, Health and Care Plans
Julie Minns Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)
Thank you for accommodating me, Dr Huq.
Education should not be this devastating or exhausting, but that is what all our constituents feel when it comes to finding adequate provision for their children with specialist needs. I will talk about one specific aspect. It is not about the exhaustion of actually getting an EHCP, although that is devastating for families. When armed with an EHCP, as in the case of one of my constituents, the exhaustion began in trying to get the school where their child was enrolled to agree to the one-day-a-week provision they had identified as being suitable for their child. It was the first step in getting their child back into that school, yet the school could not or would not agree to allow that provision to be paid for under the EHCP.
This is about not just fixing the bureaucracy around EHCPs, but ensuring that the support and encouragement are there for our schools to meet the educational needs that parents know are right for their children.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Julie Minns Excerpts(1 year, 5 months ago)
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Catherine McKinnell
The hon. Gentleman tempts me into commentary on next week’s Budget, in which I cannot indulge him.
Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)
I speak both as a parent whose child was badly failed in SEND provision under the last Government, and as an MP whose surgeries have been visited on every single occasion by a parent who is struggling not just to get an EHCP but to get from a school the flexibility that matches their child’s need. I say respectfully to Opposition Members—including the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds)—that until and unless you have walked in my shoes and the shoes of your constituents, you should show a little humility and decorum in how you respond on this issue. In the review, will the Minister encourage schools to be more flexible in their SEND provision for children who need it?
Mr Speaker
Order. I remind Members that when they say “you”, they mean me—and I do not want responsibility.