MP hopes 'broken' Send system can be fixed

Maya Sall talks to local parents, teachers and politicians about their expectations of better support for disabled children

Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, has pledged to “fight” for Barnet’s children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) to get the “school places and government support they need”.

Tomlinson told Barnet Post that the current Send system is “broken” and has repeatedly encouraged residents to reach out to him with any issues, promising to be “listening, understanding and feeding into national government”.

As first reported in the March issue, the Post has spent several months speaking to parents of children with Send needs, as well as young adults and teachers at special schools. Most parents complained of a lack of suitable local school places for their child.

One parent in Finchley told the Post that since moving to Barnet two years ago, her son’s caseworker has failed to properly update his education, health and care plan (EHCP) and she is unable to find a school which can meet his needs. He is meant to be starting secondary school in September.

Lucy, a single mother, had to leave work to homeschool her autistic son when he left nursery, because she was unable to find a school that could meet his needs. “Luckily, a year later I found a place for him at The Windmill, a special school in High Barnet”.

She has since gone back to work part-time.

Charlotte Charlesworth, headteacher at Oak Lodge School, a special school for children and young adults aged 11-19 in East Finchley, told the Post her school expanded in 2016, but there are some years it still struggles to meet growing demand. As such, places are regularly over-subscribed, “and so we have to be more strict in our consideration of whether we can truly meet the needs of students”.

She explained that teachers have to be “careful and considerate” of current students when deciding whether they have the capacity to take on more.

The 2026 Send White Paper, “Every child achieving and thriving”, sets the goal of 60,000 new school places for Send students by 2030.

The Post asked Tomlinson what this will look like in Barnet. The MP said he doesn’t know yet but “I imagine it would mean a mixture of more places within mainstream and specialist schools”.

He added that he doesn’t want future decisions in the borough to be “rushed”. “Time and again we see governments come in with arrogance, thinking they can quickly implement changes to save money”.

He said he wants to avoid a system which “doesn’t work for the individuals that are using it, and in the long term, costs everyone more money”.

“Taking our time isn’t about cutting costs,” he added, “it is about investing in the right places”.

Charlesworth said that investment is needed not only in creating new school places, but in teacher recruitment. She explained that “it’s very difficult to find people who actually have an understanding of what a special school is”, because teacher training courses rarely have student placements in special schools.

“We tend to adopt a ‘grow your own’ approach, where staff that have joined as teaching assistants go on to become qualified teachers.” She explained that her school’s whole leadership team started as teaching assistants, but because of the higher numbers of staff needed at a special school, this method of internally recruiting staff is not fast enough to keep up with growing demand.

Charlesworth added that they have previously “struggled to find anyone to interview” when advertising for teaching roles, but said Barnet Council had been very supportive in assisting with recruiting drives.

Tomlinson also praised the council for “trying its best with limited resources” and said his government is doing its best to enable councils to rise above the “low baseline we inherited from the previous government”.

Parents, however, have told the Post that they feel frustrated with how they are treated by Barnet Council, with some having to take the local authority to a tribunal to get funding for their child’s needs. Saskia, who has twice taken Barnet Council to a tribunal and won, told the Post: “I understand that there is no money… but what we really want is to be treated with a bit of dignity, and to be told the truth.”

The government white paper has promised to enact better accountability, acknowledging the difficult relationship many parents have with their local authority. When asked what accountability could look like in Barnet, Tomlinson replied: “There are lots of fantastic individual caseworkers and people providing support in the council, who are in that role because they want to help”.

He repeated that parents can raise issues with him and his team.

In response to questions from the Post, Pauline Coakley Webb, Barnet Council’s cabinet member for family friendly Barnet, said: “The council is committed to ensuring that as many children as possible receive mainstream education, and this includes for children with Send. Barnet is nationally ranked the fourteenth best local authority for mainstream inclusion. Barnet is also one of a few local authorities to deliver 100% of EHCPs within the legal time limit of 20 weeks. The average delivery rate across England is 49.2%.

“However, the increasing complexity of needs among children with Send is placing unprecedented pressure on the mainstream and specialist systems. Barnet saw a 49% increase in EHCPs between 2020 and 2024 and a 104% increase in requests for EHCPs over the same period. We are currently forecasting 5,500 EHCPs by 2028.”

She added: “The data clearly demonstrate a growing cohort with highly complex autism, social emotional mental health, and multi-sensory needs who require specialist placements. Forecasts indicate that this demand will continue to rise over the next five years. We have invested significantly in strengthening mainstream inclusion through a well-developed Local Inclusion Support Offer, targeted early intervention pathways, and specialised packages.

“We appreciate the frustration that some parents or carers are experiencing to secure the best educational support for their children. We are committed to working closely with families to ensure that needs are understood and met to achieve the best possible outcomes for every child.”

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