Parents say SEND provision needs to be an election priority

As all council seats are up for grabs in Milton Keynes, parents say provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) must be a top priority.

A Boundary Review means there will now be 60 councillors instead of 57 at the city council, and those elected on 7 May will have a tough job to tackle the rise in demand for SEND services.

The number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has more than doubled since the last decade, and the last Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission inspection in 2024 said Milton Keynes City Council needed to improve.

The BBC has been speaking to parents about their SEND experiences.

The council's SEND budget is £73.3m for 2026-27, up from £51m in 2021-22.

Paul Ridley, 61, has been fighting for more than 30 years for better SEND provision for his grown-up children, who still live at home.

"It's been good times; it's been bad times. And what we got, we had to fight for," he said.

"You have to do the balance of shouting, but if you shout too much, you become a problem.

"I think there are people on the council that are genuinely trying to help, but it's bureaucracy and money."

His advice for political parties seeking to run the council?

"If I walked into a hospital and my arm was being cut off, they are not going to leave it and say we'll put a plaster over it. They're going to deal with the problem and I think that's what needs to be done with SEND," he said.

"Even if you cut some services, you cannot put a price on a human life."

The council's statistics showed 1,415 children had a EHCP in 2018-19, and that had risen to 2,285 in 2024-25.

Some 6,887 children received some form of SEND support in the city in 2024-25, compared with 5,554 in 2021-22.

Ellie Miles has an 11-year-old son called Max, who is autistic with a pathological demand avoidance (PDA) profile.

She felt provision in the city was not good enough for Max, so set up the Spectrum Place charity to offer children a more immersive sensory education.

The government has announced about £4bn of extra funding for SEND provision and a wider overhaul as part of its schools White Paper.

However, Ellie said: "The paper has had a big impact on tribunals already because [councils] are waiting alongside parents and schools to see what happens with it."

She said things were "probably getting worse" overall, but they had improved for her after she learned about "my own legal rights, my child's legal rights, what the school had to legally do versus what the council had to legally do".

In January, the council agreed to increase the number of specialist school places from 1,400 to 1,600, with the infrastructure paid for using money from housing developers.

Kerry felt teachers could not help her 11-year-old son.

"If you ask what he thinks of school, he will tell you it's a prison where you learn," she said.

"It's not a nice place to be and he just wants to be at home.

"I cannot afford to go back to court again and get fines; it stresses him out.

"So we've had to home-school, which is hard when you're running a business and trying to be a parent and teacher.

"There's no understanding of what parents or children are going through. The funding isn't there and they're working on an old system that doesn't work for all children."

Labour (30 councillors ahead of this election and they run the authority): A Labour spokesperson said they were "committed to strengthening SEND provision in Milton Keynes so every child receives the right support".

"We will expand access to support by investing developer contributions into four new high‑quality SEND facilities within mainstream schools, alongside earlier help for families to ensure children can thrive," they said.

Liberal Democrats (18 councillors and they are the official opposition): "We would like to see earlier assessment in a child's education journey, with more training to spot their needs, so schools can put in place coping strategies before children are seen as the problem," said Lib Dem leader Jane Carr.

"We must train and recruit more educational psychologists and speech therapists, [and] also integrate staff in mainstream schools to recognise and support children with additional needs in order to meet demand when it's needed, not [for them to be] called in when the situation is at crisis."

Conservatives (Nine councillors): "Too many families are facing long delays and unclear communication when trying to access SEND support, and that has to improve," said Tory leader Shazna Muzammil.

"We would prioritise faster assessments, cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and invest in early intervention so families get help sooner. Lots of young people are placed outside of MK and placements outside the area cost the council over £7m a year. We would expand local provision so children can receive the right support closer to home."

Greens (no councillors currently): Alan Francis, chairperson of the party in Milton Keynes, said: "The Greens will push for more to be invested in SEND provision within mainstream schools, meaning all schools have fully accessible buildings and more specially trained teachers, and councils will have funds to properly support SEND students at school.

"Enabling SEND students to attend more local schools will also reduce the need to taxi children across the city, saving on transport costs."

Reform UK (no councillor currently): "Labour's reforms create a decade of uncertainty and leave parents with more questions than answers. Throwing more money at a broken system will not fix it, and even the government admits the number of young people with an EHCP will continue to rise," a Reform spokesperson said.

"A Reform UK government would take a different approach, learning from countries like Singapore and Sweden which have more effective systems. Our priority would be ensuring children get the help they need quickly, without parents having to battle the system."

Also standing for election across the city are eight independents and one candidate from both the Heritage Party and the Workers Party.

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