\n<\/p>\n
Parents fearful about the government\u2019s plans to overhaul special needs education in England took their fight to parliament on Monday, where the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, warned the prime minister: \u201cGet this wrong and you are out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up to 700 parents, many carrying colourful, homemade banners, took part in the Westminster day of protest. \u201cFailed,\u201d said one poster in blood-red paint, dripping over a list of children\u2019s names. \u201cStop cuts, start caring,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Rebecca Emmanuel was worried her 16-year-old son, who needs intensive support, would be affected by the cuts. <\/span> Photograph: Graeme Robertson\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The day of action was triggered by growing concern that Labour\u2019s changes will restrict or abolish education, health and care plans (EHCPs) \u2013 legally binding documents that more than 600,000 children and young people rely on for individual support.<\/p>\n About one in 20 school-age children and young people in England have an EHCP. Numbers have ballooned by 80% since 2018.<\/p>\n Among the protesters were Rebecca Emmanuel, 42, from south London, and her 16-year-old son, Joshua, who was born at 24 weeks and has needed intensive support throughout his life. \u201cMy worry is if these cuts happen, they will cut back on the support that my son gets at the moment, and that\u2019s really helped him,\u201d Emmanuel said.<\/p>\n Her friend Lesley Gordon, 43, whose seven-year-old son, Kai, has an EHCP and is in a special needs school for children with autism, is also worried. \u201cEvery child matters. If they make any more cuts it will really affect our children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The government is expected to outline its plans in the schools white paper to be published later in the autumn. There are fears it could lead to a rebellion, similar to that which forced the government to gut its welfare bill after a major backlash from backbenchers.<\/p>\n Davey, whose own son has special educational needs, warned protesters gathered in the shadow of Big Ben that a \u201cbig fight\u201d lay ahead. He said change was needed but added: \u201cI am really worried that the reform that we might get offered won\u2019t meet the needs of our children and young people.<\/p>\n <\/span>Ed Davey said changes to special needs education were needed, but a \u2018big fight\u2019 lay ahead. <\/span> Photograph: Graeme Robertson\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to monitor this government like never before. We\u2019ve seen them promise a lot and then not deliver. And what I say to Keir Starmer, [the education secretary] Bridget Phillipson and the government is, \u2018this is the last chance saloon for you. Get this wrong and you are out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The warning came as the prime minister\u2019s troubles continued to mount. Responding to the protest, Phillipson said engagement with parents had shown \u201cthere are elements of EHCPs they value\u201d, but \u201cwe need to call time on the battles to access support and bureaucracy that too many of them continue to face\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/span>Ashley Millhouse, centre, said she was \u2018really worried\u2019 about her son, who is struggling in mainstream school, losing his additional support. <\/span> Photograph: Graeme Robertson\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Ashley Millhouse, 38, an enhanced teaching assistant (TA) in a Send school, travelled down from Durham to fight for her \u201chero\u201d: her eight-year-old son, Alfie, who has an EHCP after being diagnosed with autism. He is struggling and in mainstream school, where he receives additional support in the mornings, but his mother says he needs more. She fears he may get less under the government\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really worried. He does not get enough support now. The thought of him getting less \u2026 it would be so detrimental for his future,\u201d Millhouse said. \u201cI\u2019m not big on politics, but I believe our children all have a right to an education. Our children matter. I want nothing but the best for my child.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018We need help,\u2019 said Kate Faxen, whose daughter has not attended school since Christmas 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Graeme Robertson\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Kate Faxen, 47, a council worker from Enfield, north London, said her 15-year-old daughter had not been to school since Christmas 2024. She has an autism diagnosis, as well as attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder and pathological demand avoidance. She has an EHCP which covers funding for specialist provision, but everywhere is full.<\/p>\n \u201cBridget Phillipson is talking about getting more children [with special needs] into mainstream. But my child could not cope,\u201d said Faxen. \u201cThey should be taking the burden off the parents. There\u2019s far too much on us. The hours I put in. People say, \u2018don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to be OK\u2019. But nothing about this is OK. We need help.\u201d<\/p>\n A debate was due to take place in parliament later on Monday, triggered by an e-petition calling on the government to retain the legal right to assessment and support in education for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). The petition attracted more than 120,000 signatories.<\/p>\n Phillipson said: \u201cWe inherited a system on its knees, forcing families to fight for every scrap of support. That\u2019s why we are listening to parents and taking action \u2013 investing \u00a31bn into Send and \u00a3750m in specialist school places, rolling out a new inclusion-centred training curriculum, and improving early intervention for ADHD, autism and speech and language needs. But in a system so broken, there is much more to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parents fearful about the government\u2019s plans to overhaul special needs education in England took their fight to parliament on Monday, where the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, warned the prime minister: \u201cGet this wrong and you are out.\u201d Up to 700 parents, many carrying colourful, homemade banners, took part in the Westminster day of protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[166,1018,2984,5552,1015,630,480,560,1014,1017],"class_list":{"0":"post-21502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-children","9":"tag-educational","10":"tag-governments","11":"tag-matter","12":"tag-overhaul","13":"tag-parents","14":"tag-plans","15":"tag-protest","16":"tag-send","17":"tag-special"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}