Children have been let down for far too long by a system that is in crisis. Labour have plans to fix this, and as part of that I wanted to hear directly from people with skin in the game.
I organised a roundtable for families of children with SEND in Hull West and Haltemprice and the conversations we had will become a part of Labour’s plans to modernise the education system so that inclusion is at its very heart, and every local school is able to meet our children’s needs.
Labour has already begun to make real changes, with a £740 million cash injection last year to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, and to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support, adapted to suit pupils’ needs.
That’s £4,479,279.80 for East Riding of Yorkshire Council and £3,800,949.85 for Hull City Council.
The Labour government showed its commitment to SEND locally by providing the funding needed to complete the 125-place Willowfields School for children with severe learning difficulties – a much-needed facility which had been delayed for years.
Further support for parents
Labour is going further to create a proper foundation of support for families, starting through our Best Start campaign and advice hub.
We are already:
- Ahead of schedule in providing of 30 hours of free childcare support to all working parents, reaching a further half a million children this term and saving parents up to £7,500 per child, per year.
- Creating 6,000 new nursery places in schools across the country in the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries, backed by £37m – with the first in Hull West and Haltemprice at Paisley Primary School.
- Rolling out free breakfast clubs with two schools already in Hull West and Haltemprice, saving parents up to £450 a year.
- Increasing access to free school meals to every child on universal credit, with over half a million more children due to benefit, putting up to £500 per child back in parents’ pockets.
- Creating up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs by the end of 2028, offering a range of support on topics ranging from difficulty breastfeeding to housing issues and children’s early development and language.
- Limiting the number of school uniform branded items, saving some families over £50 on the back-to-school shop.