Councillors Brian Hammersley (left), Jeff Morgan (centre) and Clare Golby (right)

Lancashire and Warwick county councils struggle with special needs and disabled children

As councils in the UK have seen the cost of adequately providing for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) greatly increase in recent years, Lancashire and Warwickshire have really let them down.

In Lancashire there has been three separate instances of vulnerable children with SEND being forgotten about and left on school buses which had returned to their depots after dropping the children off. One child left alone was eight and the other two 14 and sixteen.

Meanwhile in Warwickshire, during a meeting of the children’s and young people’s overview and scrutiny committee, at which the rising costs and demand for SEND were discussed, three Tory councillors made fools of themselves and have recieved more than 30,00 signatures on a petition calling for their resignation in consequence.

Former cabinet member for children and families, Jeff Morgan, suggested some children who have a SEND assessment were “just really badly behaves” and needed “some form of strict correction.”

Clare Golby said families were going on social media where they were “swapping tips on how to get their children diagnosed.

Brian Hammersley, well Brian asked if the surge in demand was down to “something in the water.” Is he implying the drinking water in Warwickshire is causing children to require special care or disabling them?

All still sit as Tory members and are on hand to benefit the community of Warwickshire in their insightful ways.