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Guardian

Guardian

Children with special needs are now the focus of the culture war and the budget debate – Labour must tread carefully | John Harris

Guardian
Summary
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77% Informative

Local councils in England say that “overspending” on special needs education manifested in an annual funding gap of at least 3bn .

Even after the government put in extra money now threatens more municipal bankruptcies.

Culture-warrior columnists now habitually question whether the word “needs” is even appropriate.

Between 2014 and 2023 , the number of children and young people in England with EHCPs rose from 240,000 to 576,000 .

Some of this increase was down to changes in our understanding of human psychology.

But there is one big factor in rocketing numbers that could have been avoided: squeezed school budgets and the miserly pay and conditions of teaching assistants leading to a decline in help that used to be provided informally.

Schools and families were thereby left with no option but to fight for provision only EHPCs can guarantee.