Huge number of children are being let down'

MP for Ellesmere Port

MANY of my constituents make it clear that they share my view that the quality of so many services is worse than used to be the case.

Too many of the people are trapped in situations well beyond their control, to the point that they feel helpless.

One of the services where waiting lists for attention are markedly inferior nowadays affects the families of children with special education needs (SEND).

It is a dire problem affecting many parents and guardians in Ellesmere Port and Neston, which I outlined in a Parliamentary debate called by the official Opposition entitled ‘National Register and Support Education’.

Much of the debate centred on the fact that far too many children are not sitting where they should be during term-time – in the classroom. Indeed, more than 1.5 million children nationally have been shown to be persistently absent from primary and secondary schools which is more than double the number of five years ago.

I told the House of Commons that in my view a huge number of children are being let down and their entire lives will be affected. Absence will impact on the opportunities they may have, never mind the education they are losing. If we are not careful, this crisis could see an entire generation written off, yet the figures continue to rise and the system seems unable to cope. In our council area, Cheshire West, absence rates for pupils have roughly doubled in the past three years.

There are a number of reasons for that huge increase, but undoubtedly a major factor from what I am seeing is how we are dealing with children with special educational needs. The number of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in Cheshire West has risen by nearly 50% in three years, and that is before we talk about all those children who are yet to actually get an EHCP.

Too often I hear the same story from frustrated parents about how their child has struggled at school, there is often an undiagnosed medical issue. It could be that the pupil needs an EHCP or a referral to child and adolescent mental health services. Neither is easy to get and all the while the situation at school is deteriorating. Eventually, the school says it cannot deal with the child anymore, or the child cannot cope with school. Relationships break down and education grinds to a halt.

By the time they get to this point and speak to me they are often exhausted, they are always frustrated and they feel they have to battle the whole time – the school, the NHS and the system – just to get the education their children have a right to.

Children’s mental health services are so overstretched and under-resourced that young people are on waiting lists for months on end, quite often waiting for years. It is also often the case that children can be refused a referral in the first place on the basis their case isn’t “serious enough”. Experience tells us help is much more effective sooner rather than later. We need mental health services in every school so that children can get the support and help they need at an early stage before matters deteriorate.