Kent campaigner calls for SEND reform in Parliament
Lisa Lloyd has two children with autism and says the current system is underfunded. She's been speaking to MPs across the house in the hope of influencing change.
Transcript
00:00 It's estimated that 17% of pupils in England have special educational needs. But many parents
00:06 say their children don't get the support they need. Whether that's a shortage of trained
00:11 staff in mainstream education or the struggles to get a place at a specialist school.
00:16 Lisa Lloyd is a mum from Maidstone. Her two children have autism. She's mostly happy with
00:22 the support they get now, but she says it was a fight.
00:27 To stop other parents going through the same, she co-launched Send Reform England.
00:31 There's a huge problem at the moment and it's very well known across the public. Unfortunately
00:40 the public don't have faith in a lot of the parties at the moment. Their children are
00:45 out of school. This is forcing parents to homeschool, forcing parents out of work and
00:50 then forcing more people onto benefits.
00:53 Send Reform England have protested outside Parliament before. Then only one MP turned
00:58 up. Today MPs from across the house have been inside here. It's general election year, there
01:04 have been some interesting ideas heard today.
01:06 Send Reform is desperately needed and it makes up a huge part of my case. I know it's country
01:13 wide but our budgets have been slashed and people come to me absolutely desperate for
01:17 help.
01:18 What sort of things are you hearing from your constituents?
01:21 People desperate for initial assessment reports for their children. Just that one to one support
01:26 in school. Schools are doing their best but they've had their budgets slashed and they
01:29 can't afford it.
01:31 Treat Send children, children with special education needs, as children, as people who
01:35 need support and help. And the government's letting them down. And I think any politician,
01:41 any government in waiting, any new government, needs to show those parents that they care
01:45 about their children and they're going to invest in them.
01:48 And I think it's important that we raise the profile of the challenges that many families
01:53 are facing in making sure that their children get the support they need and work with government
01:59 to make sure that the right amount of resources is put in place. Clearly at the moment there
02:03 seems to be a gap in that, that we're not getting enough resources to provide the support
02:07 in education.
02:08 So what's your message to them here?
02:14 Send a manifesto please.
02:17 Yes please.
02:18 You were on the cabinet, I know you're not there now, but do you think the current government
02:22 as it is, it's doing enough for children with special educational needs?
02:26 Well I think this area does need more funding. But I also think, I know, that the amount
02:32 of funding has increased. They've put the funding up year on year. Demand has gone up
02:37 too. And so it's about making sure that funding gets to the right places as well as the total
02:42 level.
02:43 Latest polling would suggest Labour would form the majority at the next general election.
02:49 What reform might they bring to send education?
02:52 Because at the moment we're really not equipping teachers to teach every single child in their
02:58 classroom. Teachers don't have the skills they need to be confident teaching children
03:03 with additional needs.
03:04 Where's this money going to come from? Where's the money going to come from for this?
03:09 So we have got a commitment as the Labour Party to reform the taxation for private schools,
03:15 to remove the tax loopholes that private schools currently enjoy and to put that money into
03:20 increased resources in our schools.
03:23 The event today was only a drop in. Organisers hope this will influence change.
03:28 Gabriel Morris for KMTV in Westminster.
03:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]