Political Opinion: Mike Reader MP launches dedicated SEND Hotline for local families

The new service will provide families with advice and support, including help with advocating to schools and the Council, support with Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) provision, and guidance on available support services.

Mike Reader MP said: "Too many families are struggling to access the SEND support their children desperately need. The system we inherited has completely lost the confidence of parents, which is why I'm determined to provide immediate, practical help while the government delivers the wholesale reform our SEND system needs."

Expert caseworkers, such as Robert Martin, CEO of SEND charity Menphys, who has years of experience assisting families with children with special education needs, will be deployed at the SEND Hotline.

Mike Reader, MP for Northampton South, continued:

“Every child should have the chance to succeed in schools. When navigating the SEND system, this hotline will guarantee that families in our community have someone to support them through the process.”

This initiative comes as a result of the changes made by the Labour government to address the SEND crisis.

Since taking office, the Labour government has:

• Restructured the Department for Education to put SEND at its heart

• Secured a £1 billion injection into SEND services

• Invested £740 million to create more specialist school places

• Brought in expert advisers to inform wholesale reform of the system

The former Conservative Education Secretary described the system the previous government left behind as “lose, lose, lose”, this feeling is shared by families across the country, who struggled to access support they are entitled to.

The largest child protection legislation, the government’s Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and contains provisions to keep vulnerable children from falling through the cracks.

Local families can contact the hotline at: [email protected].