Funding and support for SEND

That this House recognises the urgent need to properly fund and maintain special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools, including increasing the number of specialist spaces and building new SEND schools, especially in rural areas such as West Dorset, to relieve pressure on mainstream schools and provide children with SEND the care and learning environments they need; notes with concern the delays families in West Dorset and elsewhere face in accessing paediatric assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), often due to referral barriers and long waiting times, which leave children unsupported and behind in their education and wellbeing; calls on the Government to release approved funding for SEND school facility upgrades, including at Dorset Studio School in West Dorset, and to ensure that schools with high SEND populations receive proper financial and staffing support; urges that statutory SEND deadlines are upheld, and ensuring that any support is underpinned by clear, measurable, and enforceable targets, so parents have confidence in their children’s education outcomes; further calls for urgent reform of the SEND system that places children and families at its heart, invests in specialist capacity and mainstream support, improves early identification and reduces waiting lists, and supports local authorities facing financial strain; and emphasises that children with SEND in West Dorset and rural communities must not be left behind due to underfunding or lack of provision, and deserve a fully resourced, inclusive, and effective education system.