Three out of four parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities forced to give up work or cut hours, Sky News learns
Three out of four parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have been forced to give up work, or cut their hours, Sky News has learned.
In a survey of more than 500 people, two out of five (40%) had to leave their jobs, and more than one in three (33%) reduced their hours.
Most said it was because there was a lack of local authority help, and a large proportion blamed not enough school support.
Some also said it was down to a lack of flexibility from their employer.
The survey, specially commissioned by Sky News with the charity Support Send Kids, found that mostly women were affected.
Abigail Bates had to give up her job when she found that the nursery her daughter Harriet was in “couldn’t meet her needs”.
Harriet, who is two years old, has autism, global development delay, and sensory processing disorder.
Abigail said leaving her job has affected her family financially but “…with nurseries not having the knowledge or training in special educational needs I can’t work”.
“That leaves me with no choice but to meet her needs myself.”
Harriet has autism, global development delay, and sensory processing disorder
She adds that it would be “lovely” to go to work which would be “a break in itself” but without the support available children are being “failed by the system”.
The number of special schools in England does not meet the rising demand of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
It means often children have to attend mainstream schools on reduced timetables, while others are waiting months, sometimes years, for special school places.
Harriet has been offered a special school place but it is only for three hours a day.
“Where can I get a job that’s going to take me for less than three hours because I have to go pick her up again?” she asks.
‘Withholding more places from children’
Caroline Withers, trustee of charity Support Send Kids, says access to special educational needs provision is being “gate kept” by local authorities.
“Budgets have been cut,” she says, “and then local authorities have entered into agreements with central government about the funding deficit they hold, and as part of those funding packages they’ve agreed to withhold more places from children”.
She adds that “the adversarial nature and withholding of support” in the system is “at the core of any reform”.
Caroline Withers says access to special educational needs provision is being ‘gate kept’ by local authorities
‘Huge social and economic effects’
Hannah Peaker, director of policy and advocacy for the New Economics Foundation, says the number of parents leaving work, because of a lack of specialist provision, is detrimental to the economy.
“We’ve been in a period of economic stagnation”, she says “…so to not take advantage of one of the highest returning investments you can make [in early years education] where all the evidence suggests you would get that back and more for an investment that would have huge social and economic effects, including for the families involved, it just seems odd not to pursue that.”
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She also states that not investing in early years education, considering the benefits to future job prospects and the economy, would be an act of “self-harm”.
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A Department for Education spokesperson described a “system unable to cope with the level of need” following “years of increasing pressure”.
In a statement, they said: “We want every child to have the best start in life and to give flexibility to parents, which is why we’re rolling out more government-funded early years places, breakfast clubs in every primary school and wraparound childcare before and after primary school.
“We are also committed to putting inclusion and early intervention for children with SEND at the heart of the education system, and have already started that work by providing new online training to early educators to help them identify and support children with SEND.”
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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