1 week Ago
The issue of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) has become a vexed issue in Kent. Getting children into the right schools to meet their requirements is both difficult to achieve and it is also very costly to residents. Making such provision work will fall to whichever party takes the reins at Kent County Council (KCC) after the elections on May 1.
KCC must provide the service by law and the cost of providing it has been affected in recent years by the increase in those in need of home-to-school transport and the number of education health care plans (EHCPs). There are around 20,000 pupils in the county and the cost to the Kent tax-payer is more than £100m, although the government does contribute a significant amount more to the most in need, sometimes known as the high needs bloc. Here we ask the five main parties fighting for seats at County Hall on May 1 how they would tackle one of the most important aspects of KCC’s service provision.
The Conservatives say: A brighter future awaits children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), their families, and schools across the county. Achieving this requires building on our reforms already underway in Kent, while advocating for nationwide policy shifts. The current SEND system, flawed and costly, has sparked frustration and disputes nationwide.
However, meaningful change is now taking root. Our goal is clear: bolster schools to be more inclusive, enabling more children to attend their local school; strengthen with the NHS; and continue to improve support for parents. This approach benefits children, families, and council taxpayers alike.
It cuts dependence on pricey private special schools, which often mean long, stressful, and expensive trips for pupils. Progress is underway, though work still remains. More SEND children are now learning in mainstream settings, and we’ve drastically sped up the completion of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
We’ve also invested over £60million into expanding and upgrading special schools. Plus, we’re £10million under budget on SEND transport costs. Kent is at the forefront, pushing the government for national change to promote inclusion and address the financial shortfalls plaguing council SEND services.
We’re driving transformation locally, but some solutions must come from Westminster. By pressing forward with these efforts, we’re paving the way for a system that better serves children with SEND, supports families, and eases the strain on public funds. The journey’s far from over, but our direction of travel leads to that brighter future.
The party is represented by councillor Rory Love, current KCC cabinet member for education and skills. The Labour Party says: We have spoken to so many children, young people, and families across Kent, and one thing is clear — they feel let down. They need support, a voice, and action that actually makes a difference.
The Conservative administration is not listening, but we will. Kent Labour will introduce a universal after-school play service for five to 11-year-olds. Children need a space to just be children — to play, make friends, and have fun.
But it’s more than that. It is also a chance for us to listen to them and their families, offering support where it’s needed. For secondary school settings, we will place dedicated youth workers in each district—familiar, trusted faces that young people can turn to for help.
The mental health crisis among young people is real, and early intervention is key. These fully costed proposals are ready to be rolled out. Children with additional needs deserve better.
We will take an outcome-based and person centred approach - listening to them, understanding their goals, and putting the right support in place. After years of under-funding, all schools need to be more inclusive to prepare children for adulthood, but schools need to be given the resources to achieve this, and parents and special schools must be heard with respect. We also need to work with government to rethink the curriculum - young people should leave school equipped with real-life skills that prepare them for adulthood, independence and a fulfilling future.
Kent Labour is ready to step up and deliver for our children. The party is represented by Alister Brady, leader of the KCC Labour Group. The Greens say: We believe that, where possible, children with SEND should study in mainstream schools.
To achieve this, mainstream schools should have sufficient suitably qualified and trained teachers and teaching assistants, there should be appropriate facilities and equipment for SEND children, and there should be strong links with and support from expert staff from special schools. We support KCC’s strategy of setting up hubs of mainstream schools that would include a special needs facility and would share SEND expertise. However, some children, because of the nature of their disability, need to attend a special school.
KCC should ensure it has range of special schools sited within the county, well-supported and catering for the full range of needs. Parents have reported that KCC has been slow to identify their children’s needs and put in place appropriate support. We would work to ensure there are sufficient educational psychologists, speech and other therapists so that conditions like dyslexia and neuro-divergency can be identified early.
Similarly, we would ensure KCC has sufficient staff to quickly process Education and Health Care Plans and deal with complaints. We would reverse KCC’s proposal to change their designation and require a number of excellent special schools to accept children with more complex needs. Staff at some of these schools have told us the proposal would be difficult to implement and would adversely the affect the education of their current students.
KCC currently spends a huge amount sending special needs children to private and out of county schools. We believe our proposals would help reduce this sum. We have great respect for the people who work in SEND.
The dedication, skill and expertise of all the teachers, teaching assistants, KCC officers, therapists and medical experts is plain to see. We hope we can continue to work with them after May 1. The party is represented by Rich Lehmann, leader of the Green Party group at County Hall The Liberal Democrats say: The Liberal Democrats at KCC would do what is necessary to improve SEN services, do it fast, and do it with parents, children and teachers in the SEN sector.
The first task of the new administration will be to clearly set out the entitlement of children with SEND and the sufficiency or otherwise of the current government funding to meet that entitlement. We will set up a SEND Sub-Committee of Scrutiny, to closely monitor the execution of SEN policies. This is too big a subject to be left to the general Scrutiny committee.
A primary goal is to repair the relationship with SEND special schools. This is crucial for fostering a collaborative environment where the needs of students are met. Kent Liberal Democrats are committed to early intervention, to identify and support children with SEN at the earliest possible stage, enhancing their educational outcomes.
This is one way of reducing future adult social care costs, which are the biggest threat to the county finances and other services. We need to establish the future need for special school provision across the county. Long-term planning is required to ensure that there is adequate provision and resources to cater for the growing number of children who require special education.
We also believe in a more inclusive education across Kent schools. The aim is to integrate children with SEN into mainstream schools wherever possible so they receive a well-rounded education alongside their peers. We must speak truth to power and demand central government puts SEN funding on a sustainable footing.
Adequate, consistent funding is essential to provide necessary resources for both students and educators. Kent Liberal Democrats hope to create a more inclusive, supportive, and effective educational landscape for children with Special Educational Needs in Kent. The Lib Dems are represented by their Kent leader cllr Antony Hook REFORM UK Despite SEND and EHCPs becoming more recognised within education over the past decade, no additional funding or budget has been allocated by government to cover the additional support required by children.
Thousands of children are on waiting lists, therefore missing vital education, and locations of schools are situated miles away from home, yet again incurring additional unnecessary costs in addition to turmoil for parents and children. Yet, instead of putting money towards what many would deem as a priority, Kent County Council is wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless projects. They lost £60million on a high-risk stock market fund, spent £330,000 on ‘Cycle to Work’ schemes, wasted around £230,000 on Net Zero and the list goes on.
Failings, poor decisions, and improper utilisation of taxpayers’ money is clearly having an adverse effect on our local education system, not just for children with SEND or in receipt of EHCP, but to every child. Both inquiries regarding the reported failings of the system over the last decade have deemed that the current system does not meet the needs of young people with additional needs. Schools are over capacity with over 8,000 more children attending special schools and the inquiries indicate councils are running at a massive deficit (£4.
3 billion and £4.9 billion as a whole) and heading towards complete bankruptcy. Only Reform is standing in these KCC elections to cut the waste and reinvest back in supporting local people.
Kent is broken. Reform will fix it. Daniel Taylor is the Reform UK candidate at Cliftonville.
