A teenage boy who has been out of school for six years and a schoolgirl who attempted to take her own life have been highlighted as part of a parliamentary debate focussing on SEND in Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire.

During the 30-minute debate, Labour MP for Hitchin Alistair Strathern pointed to delays in the education, health and care assessment process, as well as in the provision of SEND support and appropriate school places.

He said “far too many families” were having to battle an appeals system to secure the support children were in need of, and that fighting those appeals was costing Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire councils “eye-watering amounts”.

He raised questions about funding allocations – with Hertfordshire having one of the lowest high needs block funding allocations in the country – and about workforce.

“A system that is letting down children with additional needs is a system that is letting down children full stop,” he said.

“And it simply should not be a system that any of us tolerate any longer.”

Throughout the debate MPs from across the county pointed to the impact the system was having on individuals.

Mr Strathern said his staff had been “blown away” by the number of families who had contacted him in advance of the debate to detail the struggles they had faced.

That included, he said, children like James who had been out of school “for years” while they waited for a place.

Others like Mary, he said, who had secured a place – only to find out in the last week of the summer holidays that it had been withdrawn.

He highlighted parents like Sophie, who he said had been “driven to despair” by a system that they felt forced them to “fight every step of the way” to secure support for their young person.

Meanwhile he also highlighted young people who, he said, had been “pushed to the brink by the lack of appropriate support”.

Among them, he said, were those “whose mental health has spiralled to the point that many of them felt they could no longer be in day-to-day education”.

And he highlighted one young person who, “after feeling isolated and alienated by the delays in getting the right support in place at school, felt that she had no option available other than to attempt to take her own life”.

“What more damning indictment of our failure could there be?” he asked.

Meanwhile Stevenage MP Kevin Bonavia (Labour) highlighted a boy who had been left without formal education for five years.

Kevin Bonavia, MP for Stevenage (Image: Home-Start Hertfordshire)

During the debate Mr Strathern pointed to the 2023 Ofsted report that had painted “a damning picture of local provision and the challenges families were facing” in Hertfordshire.

He acknowledged moves to boost specialist school capacity and the council’s ‘making SEND everybody’s business’ approach, as well as the “early actions” that were being taken by government.

During the debate, Hertfordshire was said to receive the third lowest level of high needs funding in the country.

Mr Strathern said a shortage of professionals such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists was exacerbated by the county’s proximity to London.

During the debate St Albans MP Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat) acknowledged the “recent” progress in the delivery of SEND in Hertfordshire, but said much of this had only started since the “most recent damning Ofsted report”.

She asked Mr Strathern to agree that Hertfordshire children had been “really let down” by Conservatives in government and by Conservatives in County Hall.

In response to the debate, Minister for School Standards Catherine McKinnell said that improving the special educational needs and disabilities system across the country was a priority for the government.

She said that that included improving services for children and young people with SEND in Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Despite high needs funding having increased, she acknowledged confidence in the SEND system was low, tribunal rates are increasing and there are increasingly long waits for support.

She said the government was committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and ensuring that special schools can cater to those with the most complex needs.

Addressing the concerns raised by Mr Strathern, she said: “We are all passionate about the SEND outcomes in his local area and right across the country.

“We recognise that the system needs to improve, we recognise the hardship that many families are facing, and we are determined that that will change.”

The debate – SEND in Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire – was held in Westminster Hall on Wednesday (September 4).

Following the debate, Mr Strathern said: “Every child deserves to reach their full potential, but for so many children with SEND in Herts and Central Bedfordshire, this simply isn’t the reality.

“It’s been heart-breaking to hear parents’ testimonies, many driven to despair by a system that too often feels against them, fighting at every step of the way, endless waits for EHC plans and assessments and in some cases, rescinded school places.

“At the heart of this debate are thousands of children being failed, pushed out of school with spiralling mental health difficulties. It’s unacceptable.

“Our new Labour government is cause for hope that this crisis is finally being addressed. I was pleased to hear from the Minister that fixing SEND is a priority for the Department, and work is ongoing with parents, schools, and councils to develop long term solutions to tackle these issues.”