Robert Buckland Weblog

Swindon Community Radio is going from strength to strength and last week, I was delighted to have used an hour of airtime (last Tuesday between 6 and 7pm) to focus on Special Educational Needs as the week’s “Hot Topic”.  In a programme entitled “Every Child Matters – apart from mine!”, local campaigner Deidre Holland and I looked at the process of obtaining a Statement of Special Educational Needs, its implementation and the challenges facing young people with SEN when leaving school. 

Some key issues that we identified during the discussion were the need for Statements to be worded in a specific way, and for generalities to be avoided.  We shared concern that the Local Education Authority had a conflicting role in being both the assessor and provider of Special Education.  I am very pleased that the Conservatives have pledged to make the assessment process independent of LEAs, which will give parents a lot more confidence in the integrity of the system. 

We also looked at the problems being encountered by Swindon LEA when it comes to funding from Central Government.  Swindon is one of the worst funded authorities in the whole country, and there is no doubt that schools and pupils are increasingly feeling the pinch when it comes to SEN provision.  Headteachers are hard pressed to maintain existing provision, let alone improve and extend it to cover pupils who, whilst not Statemented, have varying degrees of additional need.

My thanks to Shirley Ludford and the team at Swindon Community Radio 105.5 FM.