Children with special needs forced out of school for years as funding fails to meet demand

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Children with special educational needs and disabilities are out of school for years at a time as government funding to local authorities has failed to keep up with a rise in demand. He said: “This is an appalling way to be addressing the education of some of our most vulnerable children and young people and is causing untold misery and worry for thousands of families.” Mr Courtney added: “It is leading to very bad consequences for children where special needs support is being cut in schools and local authorities, and we hear stories of children that are out of the system for years at a time sometimes.” Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “The Tories’ cuts to education have disproportionately hit children with special educational needs. It is devastating that, as a result, some of the most vulnerable children are being forced out of school altogether.” Anntoinette Bramble, chair of Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said councils were reaching a point where the money is not there to keep up with demand, pushing support for children with SEND “to a tipping point”. The LGA is calling on the government to use the forthcoming spending review to “plug the estimated special needs funding gap facing councils of up to £1.6bn by 2021.” Nadhim Zahawi, minister for children and families, said: “We have increased spending on high needs from £5bn in 2013 to £6.3bn this year and it is not right to imply funding has been cut.