Some families are being forced to wait years to get their children’s learning needs properly assessed while others are being forced to pay out thousands for private diagnoses due to a crisis in education provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities [SEND].
West Suffolk parents gave harrowing accounts of their struggles to get the best for their children at a meeting organised by the Haverhill Sunflower SEND Hub at Chalkstone Community Centre on Friday 18 July 2025.
Last month, as part of the Spending Review, the Government confirmed that its intended approach to SEND reform would be set out in a Schools White Paper in autumn 2025.
A parent described how their child was refused an Education Health and Care Plan [EHCP] because he was too clever. “I find that insane,” said the parent, who faces an 18-month wait before they can challenge the decision through the courts.
Parents described a litany of other problems, including the following:
- A severe lack of places in specialist schools, leading to children spending years in corridors at mainstream schools. “There are not enough places,” one parent said.
- Children being put in taxis to drive miles for their education with drivers who are not trained and do not have experience dealing with those with special needs.
- Difficulties staying in contact with social workers, and parents not being informed that their social worker had been changed.
- The knock-on effects on the mental health of parents who are caring for their children while dealing with an inadequate system as well as full-time work.
The parents were joined by local representatives from different parties, including the MP for West Suffolk — Nick Timothy — and Haverhill’s local Labour district councillors Cllr Pat Hanlon and Haverhill Mayor Cllr Quinn Cox, and Conservative County Councillor for Haverhill David Roach.
One parent described the ordeal of having to wait for many months to have her children’s condition assessed, and then having to go through the courts when that process was not satisfactory — meaning her boys are stuck in mainstream education until the situation is resolved. “The system needs changing”, she said.
She added: “Why do I have to fight for my child to have a right to an education? The system is failing all these children.”
A health visitor, who works with children aged up to five years old, said: “The battle starts early on. before they are even in mainstream school. If you then have to wait two or three more years for them to be referred … we are not giving them the support they need… Once they get to age five that battle becomes harder.”
There was strong agreement on the need for more specialist provision of the type that exists at Churchill School in Haverhill or Polaris in Newmarket, which hosts 19 children from all over Suffolk. “We definitely need more specialist units”, said one mum.
At the meeting, Nick Timothy MP said: “This is pretty much the number one thing that comes up with head teachers and staff in schools and it is also the most prominent issue among people who come to my surgeries. The stories are striking in terms of the common themes.
“We are talking about a really human problem and a really inhuman response because people just get shunted around the system. The system has got to feel more human.
“A lot of problems are about slow-building trends and then the system can’t cope with that change. Obviously demand has grown and grown… and the system hasn’t been able to cope with that. The introduction of EHCPs and the way EHCPs work is a big part of the problem because it has bureaucratised and formalised things that perhaps worked better before.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Timothy said: “Education and children are a big part of why I stood for Parliament. But on something like this there should be no party politics. My education changed the direction of my life and I would like children to have the best that we can give them.
“But it’s clear from the painful accounts that I heard that parents are facing an inhuman response from a broken system. I am going to continue listening and finding out more so we can respond with one powerful voice to the Government when it produces its report this Autumn. If the Government comes forward with proposals that we think work, then I will support them. And if not, we will need to work together to get them to listen.”
