Hundreds of shocking cases of children with special needs being forced out of school have emerged as figures reveal a £1.2bn drop in real-terms funding over the past four years.
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are out of school for years at a time as government funding to local authorities has failed to keep up with a rise in demand.
In a litany of case studies revealed to The Independent, families say long periods at home have damaged their children’s mental health as they wait for councils to find suitable provision.
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One mother said her son, who has Asperger’s, has become severely depressed after being left at home without a college place for nearly two years. He stopped eating, talking and washing.
In other cases, parents have been forced to quit their jobs in order to look after children at home.
1/50 14 April 2019
A woman photographs blossoming tulips in Holland Park
PA
2/50 13 April 2019
Lincoln City’s Bruno Andrade (left) and Shay McCartan celebrate being promoted after their Sky Bet League Two match at Sincil Bank, Lincoln
PA
3/50 12 April 2019
Supporters march during the YouthStrike4Climate demonstration in central London
AFP/Getty
4/50 11 April 2019
The Milky Way and millions of stars over Dinstanburgh Castle in the early hours of the morning. Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322
PA
5/50 10 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May react during an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels
Reuters
6/50 9 April 2019
England’s Ellen White celebrates after her side go 1-0 up against Spain during their friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. The Lionesses went on to win 2-1
PA
7/50 8 April 2019
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and fellow Labour MPs welcome the newly elected MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones (right), to the Houses of Parliament
PA
8/50 7 April 2019
James Cracknell celebrates after winning the Men’s Boat Race with Cambridge. Former Olympic and World Champion Cracknell, 46, became the oldest entrant in Boat Race history, qualifying after taking up a Master of Philosophy degree in human evolution
Getty
9/50 6 April 2019
Davy Russell, riding Tiger Roll, celebrates winning the Random Health Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool. He became the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back renewals
EPA
10/50 5 April 2019
Activists in hazmat suits and masks stop traffic in west London in a protest accusing authorities of lying after cancer-causing chemicals were found in soil close to Grenfell Tower
PA
11/50 4 April 2019
England football manager Gareth Southgate with the OBE that he received at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London
PA
12/50 3 April 2019
Newborn lambs in a snow covered field near Allendale, Northumberland, after temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. Hill snow, sleet, showers and gales are expected for parts of the UK as the chilly snap keeps hold.
PA
13/50 2 April 2019
Armathwaite Hall hotel in Keswick, Cumbria holds Lemoga classes with the lemurs from Lake District Wild Life Park, who were mingling with the class to create a personal yoga experience which aims to heighten the sense of wellbeing for both lemur and human. With their friendly, outgoing personalities and love for human contact, lemurs make the perfect yoga buddies, helping people to laugh, unwind and stretch away their troubles
PA
14/50 1 April 2019
Fire fighters attend to two police cars that were destroyed after being set on fire outside Goldthorpe police station in South Yorkshire in a suspected arson attack
PA
15/50 31 March 2019
Forensics teams work at the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton in London. Four people have been stabbed in a spate of knife attacks in the north of the capital over the weekend
Getty
16/50 30 March 2019
Workers from the Honda plant in Swindon during a protest march through the town as the car giant will be urged to reverse its decision to close its UK plant
Unite South West/PA
17/50 29 March 2019
Pro-Brexit protesters outside Westminster as MPs voted on a Government motion on the EU withdrawal
PA
18/50 28 March 2019
England football captain Harry Kane is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
PA
19/50 27 March 2019
Gallery staff give a final dusting to the ‘Olympe’ sculpture by Aspencrow, modelled on Cara Delevingne and an interpretation of Medusa, as it is unveiled at the JD Malay Gallery in Mayfair, London
PA
20/50 26 March 2019
PD Marci with handler PC Neil Billany, PD Kai with handler PC Jean Pearce, PD Bruno with handler Rob Smith, PD Delta with handler PC Mark Snoxhall, PDSA vet Rosamund Ford, and PD Dave with handler PC Andy Salter at Borough market in London where the dogs were honoured with the PDSA Order of Merit for helping emergency services during the 2017 London terror attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Borough Market
PA
21/50 25 March 2019
Britain’s Attorney General Geoffrey Cox arrives in Downing street, London for a cabinet meeting. British Prime Minister Theresa May will today chair a potentially volatile meeting of her cabinet amid reports of an attempted coup by colleagues over her handling of Brexit.
AFP/Getty
22/50 24 March 2019
Workers peeling off stickers left on the Cabinet Office door on Whitehall, London, left by anti-Brexit campaigners after they took part in the People’s Vote March
PA
23/50 23 March 2019
Protesters take part in the Put It To The People March on Whitehall in London. Thousands of protesters gathered for the march from Park Lane to Parliament Square calling for a public vote on the Governments final Brexit deal
Getty
24/50 22 March 2019
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a news briefing after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels
Reuters
25/50 21 March 2019
The mosque and community centre on Albert Road in Birmingham where a police forensic team are at work after it had its windows smashed with a sledgehammer. An investigation involving counter-terrorism officers has been launched after four mosques in the Birmingham area were attacked overnight
PA
26/50 20 March 2019
Gallery technicians install Edvard Munch’s The Scream at the British Museum in London, ahead of the opening of Edvard Munch: love and angst exhibition, which runs from 11 April to 21 July
PA
27/50 19 March 2019
The ‘tall ship’ William II passes a wind turbine as it sails along the north east coast near Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear after it set off from Blyth in Northumberland on a voyage round the coastline of Great Britain calling at 10 ports en route and changing crews at each stage. The Blyth Tall Ship project is a charity working alongside Blyth community volunteers to recapture the spirit of adventure that was employed in the town to discover the Antarctic 200 years ago and the turbine is part of a pilot field operated by EDF off Blyth which uses concrete float-and-submerge foundations
PA
28/50 18 March 2019
Messenger, the largest bronze cast sculpture in the UK, arrives in Plymouth Sound by barge as it makes its way to be installed outside Theater Royal Plymouth, Devon
PA
29/50 17 March 2019
Flooding in Silsdend, Yorkshire. Heavy rain has caused widespread flooding across the country. Flood warnings remain in place across the UK
PA
30/50 16 March 2019
Police at the scene in Fulham, west London where a 29-year-old man was stabbed to death this morning. The Metropolitan Police said it was called “to reports of a fight in progress” by ambulance crews and arrived on the scene at about 12.27am. The victim was found with stab wounds and died at the scene at 12.56am despite attempts by paramedics and members of the public to save his life
PA
31/50 15 March 2019
Schoolchildren gather around Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace as they take part in a student climate protest in London. Thousands of pupils from schools, colleges and universities across the UK will walk out in the second major strike against climate change this year. Young people nationwide are calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action. Similar strikes are taking place around the world today including in Japan and Australia, inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg who criticised world leaders at a United Nations climate conference
Getty
32/50 14 March 2019
Families of those killed during Bloody Sunday march through Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Service announced only one former British soldier is to be put on trial in connection with his role in the shootings that left 13 people dead in Derry on 30 January 1972. Families of those killed gathered outside The Museum of Free Derry, yards from where the killings took place, before marching to the city centre hotel to hear the announcement
Charles McQuillan
Getty
33/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
34/50 12 March 2019
British Synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe, attempting to recreate their World Championship routine in a pool filled with plastic for The Big Bang Fair challenge, opening this week at the NEC Birmingham. The campaign for the Big Bang competition, which is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) for young people in the UK has been created to help highlight how the eight million tonnes of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year affects marine life
PA
35/50 11 March 2019
Snow surrounds the Tan Hill pub in North Yorkshire
PA
36/50 10 March 2019
A man feeds food to dogs during the ‘Brexit Dogs Dinner’ protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London
Reuters
37/50 9 March 2019
Protesters from the climate change pressure group Extinction Rebellion demonstrate by pouring fake blood onto the street outside Downing Street in London
Reuters
38/50 8 March 2019
A woman runs with her Komondor dog as it is judged in a show ring on the second day of the Crufts dog show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
39/50 7 March 2019
Scaffolding which has blown down in strong winds in Hampstead, north London
Robert Berg/Twitter/PA Wire
40/50 6 March 2019
Police and bomb disposal services outside the University of Glasgow after the building was evacuated when a suspect package was found in the mailroom
PA
41/50 5 March 2019
Police officers secure the scene where a suspicious package was found near Waterloo railway station. Other packages were also found at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport, with the police saying they were bombs. Counterterror officers are investigating the three devices as linked following a series of evacuations. One of the packages opened by office staff at Heathrow Airport burst into flames. Scotland Yard did not rule out the existence of other bombs. “The packages – all A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags – have been assessed by specialist officers to be small improvised explosive devices,” a spokesperson said. “These devices, at this early stage of the investigation, appear capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened. “The Met Police Counter Terrorism Command is treating the incidents as a linked series and is keeping an open mind regarding motives.”
Reuters
42/50 4 March 2019
Large waves crash over the sea walls at Cleveleys near Blackpool, as the remains of Storm Freya, which has battered Britain with gales, heavy rain and snow causes widespread travel disruption
PA
43/50 3 March 2019
Christopher Hepworth with partner Tanisha Prince (right) on their way to victory in the annual UK Wife Carrying Race at The Nower in Dorking, Surrey
PA
44/50 2 March 2019
Police officers search near the scene on St Neot’s Road in Harold Hill, east London following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old girl on Friday night. Police were called to reports of a knife attack in the Romford area by the ambulance service at 9.25pm. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene just over an hour later. Her next of kin have been informed and detectives from the Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation
PA
45/50 1 March 2019
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson celebrate after winning gold and silver medals in the women’s pentathlon at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow
Getty
46/50 28 February 2019
A painting, believed to be the second version of “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is picutred during a photocall in London following its restoration. – The 400-year-old canvas — depicting the beheading of an Assyrian general, Holofernes, by Judith from the biblical Book of Judith — was found in 2014 when the owners of a house near the southwestern city of Toulouse in France, were investigating a leak in the ceiling. It is a burst of violence painted in haunting tones by a Renaissance master worth at least $100 million — or yet another fake distressing the art world.
AFP/Getty
47/50 27 February 2019
Dozens of firefighters worked through the night to battle a major moorland blaze in West Yorkshire. More than 1.5sq km of Saddleworth Moor was ablaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the UK’s hottest winter day on record
Reuters
48/50 26 February 2019
Alastair Cook after he received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace
PA
49/50 25 February 2019
Nobby the polar bear cools down at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park during unseasonably warm weather. The park was covered in a blanket of snow at the end of February 2018 as the UK was hit by sub-zero temperatures. Forecasters have said that after this weekend’s warm weather, temperatures later this week should return to normal
PA
50/50 24 February 2019
Olivia Colman won the best actress in a leading role award for ‘The Favourite’ at the 91st Academy Awards in Hollywood
PA
1/50 14 April 2019
A woman photographs blossoming tulips in Holland Park
PA
2/50 13 April 2019
Lincoln City’s Bruno Andrade (left) and Shay McCartan celebrate being promoted after their Sky Bet League Two match at Sincil Bank, Lincoln
PA
3/50 12 April 2019
Supporters march during the YouthStrike4Climate demonstration in central London
AFP/Getty
4/50 11 April 2019
The Milky Way and millions of stars over Dinstanburgh Castle in the early hours of the morning. Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322
PA
5/50 10 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May react during an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels
Reuters
6/50 9 April 2019
England’s Ellen White celebrates after her side go 1-0 up against Spain during their friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. The Lionesses went on to win 2-1
PA
7/50 8 April 2019
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and fellow Labour MPs welcome the newly elected MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones (right), to the Houses of Parliament
PA
8/50 7 April 2019
James Cracknell celebrates after winning the Men’s Boat Race with Cambridge. Former Olympic and World Champion Cracknell, 46, became the oldest entrant in Boat Race history, qualifying after taking up a Master of Philosophy degree in human evolution
Getty
9/50 6 April 2019
Davy Russell, riding Tiger Roll, celebrates winning the Random Health Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool. He became the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back renewals
EPA
10/50 5 April 2019
Activists in hazmat suits and masks stop traffic in west London in a protest accusing authorities of lying after cancer-causing chemicals were found in soil close to Grenfell Tower
PA
11/50 4 April 2019
England football manager Gareth Southgate with the OBE that he received at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London
PA
12/50 3 April 2019
Newborn lambs in a snow covered field near Allendale, Northumberland, after temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. Hill snow, sleet, showers and gales are expected for parts of the UK as the chilly snap keeps hold.
PA
13/50 2 April 2019
Armathwaite Hall hotel in Keswick, Cumbria holds Lemoga classes with the lemurs from Lake District Wild Life Park, who were mingling with the class to create a personal yoga experience which aims to heighten the sense of wellbeing for both lemur and human. With their friendly, outgoing personalities and love for human contact, lemurs make the perfect yoga buddies, helping people to laugh, unwind and stretch away their troubles
PA
14/50 1 April 2019
Fire fighters attend to two police cars that were destroyed after being set on fire outside Goldthorpe police station in South Yorkshire in a suspected arson attack
PA
15/50 31 March 2019
Forensics teams work at the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton in London. Four people have been stabbed in a spate of knife attacks in the north of the capital over the weekend
Getty
16/50 30 March 2019
Workers from the Honda plant in Swindon during a protest march through the town as the car giant will be urged to reverse its decision to close its UK plant
Unite South West/PA
17/50 29 March 2019
Pro-Brexit protesters outside Westminster as MPs voted on a Government motion on the EU withdrawal
PA
18/50 28 March 2019
England football captain Harry Kane is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
PA
19/50 27 March 2019
Gallery staff give a final dusting to the ‘Olympe’ sculpture by Aspencrow, modelled on Cara Delevingne and an interpretation of Medusa, as it is unveiled at the JD Malay Gallery in Mayfair, London
PA
20/50 26 March 2019
PD Marci with handler PC Neil Billany, PD Kai with handler PC Jean Pearce, PD Bruno with handler Rob Smith, PD Delta with handler PC Mark Snoxhall, PDSA vet Rosamund Ford, and PD Dave with handler PC Andy Salter at Borough market in London where the dogs were honoured with the PDSA Order of Merit for helping emergency services during the 2017 London terror attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Borough Market
PA
21/50 25 March 2019
Britain’s Attorney General Geoffrey Cox arrives in Downing street, London for a cabinet meeting. British Prime Minister Theresa May will today chair a potentially volatile meeting of her cabinet amid reports of an attempted coup by colleagues over her handling of Brexit.
AFP/Getty
22/50 24 March 2019
Workers peeling off stickers left on the Cabinet Office door on Whitehall, London, left by anti-Brexit campaigners after they took part in the People’s Vote March
PA
23/50 23 March 2019
Protesters take part in the Put It To The People March on Whitehall in London. Thousands of protesters gathered for the march from Park Lane to Parliament Square calling for a public vote on the Governments final Brexit deal
Getty
24/50 22 March 2019
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a news briefing after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels
Reuters
25/50 21 March 2019
The mosque and community centre on Albert Road in Birmingham where a police forensic team are at work after it had its windows smashed with a sledgehammer. An investigation involving counter-terrorism officers has been launched after four mosques in the Birmingham area were attacked overnight
PA
26/50 20 March 2019
Gallery technicians install Edvard Munch’s The Scream at the British Museum in London, ahead of the opening of Edvard Munch: love and angst exhibition, which runs from 11 April to 21 July
PA
27/50 19 March 2019
The ‘tall ship’ William II passes a wind turbine as it sails along the north east coast near Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear after it set off from Blyth in Northumberland on a voyage round the coastline of Great Britain calling at 10 ports en route and changing crews at each stage. The Blyth Tall Ship project is a charity working alongside Blyth community volunteers to recapture the spirit of adventure that was employed in the town to discover the Antarctic 200 years ago and the turbine is part of a pilot field operated by EDF off Blyth which uses concrete float-and-submerge foundations
PA
28/50 18 March 2019
Messenger, the largest bronze cast sculpture in the UK, arrives in Plymouth Sound by barge as it makes its way to be installed outside Theater Royal Plymouth, Devon
PA
29/50 17 March 2019
Flooding in Silsdend, Yorkshire. Heavy rain has caused widespread flooding across the country. Flood warnings remain in place across the UK
PA
30/50 16 March 2019
Police at the scene in Fulham, west London where a 29-year-old man was stabbed to death this morning. The Metropolitan Police said it was called “to reports of a fight in progress” by ambulance crews and arrived on the scene at about 12.27am. The victim was found with stab wounds and died at the scene at 12.56am despite attempts by paramedics and members of the public to save his life
PA
31/50 15 March 2019
Schoolchildren gather around Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace as they take part in a student climate protest in London. Thousands of pupils from schools, colleges and universities across the UK will walk out in the second major strike against climate change this year. Young people nationwide are calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action. Similar strikes are taking place around the world today including in Japan and Australia, inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg who criticised world leaders at a United Nations climate conference
Getty
32/50 14 March 2019
Families of those killed during Bloody Sunday march through Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Service announced only one former British soldier is to be put on trial in connection with his role in the shootings that left 13 people dead in Derry on 30 January 1972. Families of those killed gathered outside The Museum of Free Derry, yards from where the killings took place, before marching to the city centre hotel to hear the announcement
Charles McQuillan
Getty
33/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
34/50 12 March 2019
British Synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe, attempting to recreate their World Championship routine in a pool filled with plastic for The Big Bang Fair challenge, opening this week at the NEC Birmingham. The campaign for the Big Bang competition, which is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) for young people in the UK has been created to help highlight how the eight million tonnes of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year affects marine life
PA
35/50 11 March 2019
Snow surrounds the Tan Hill pub in North Yorkshire
PA
36/50 10 March 2019
A man feeds food to dogs during the ‘Brexit Dogs Dinner’ protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London
Reuters
37/50 9 March 2019
Protesters from the climate change pressure group Extinction Rebellion demonstrate by pouring fake blood onto the street outside Downing Street in London
Reuters
38/50 8 March 2019
A woman runs with her Komondor dog as it is judged in a show ring on the second day of the Crufts dog show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
39/50 7 March 2019
Scaffolding which has blown down in strong winds in Hampstead, north London
Robert Berg/Twitter/PA Wire
40/50 6 March 2019
Police and bomb disposal services outside the University of Glasgow after the building was evacuated when a suspect package was found in the mailroom
PA
41/50 5 March 2019
Police officers secure the scene where a suspicious package was found near Waterloo railway station. Other packages were also found at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport, with the police saying they were bombs. Counterterror officers are investigating the three devices as linked following a series of evacuations. One of the packages opened by office staff at Heathrow Airport burst into flames. Scotland Yard did not rule out the existence of other bombs. “The packages – all A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags – have been assessed by specialist officers to be small improvised explosive devices,” a spokesperson said. “These devices, at this early stage of the investigation, appear capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened. “The Met Police Counter Terrorism Command is treating the incidents as a linked series and is keeping an open mind regarding motives.”
Reuters
42/50 4 March 2019
Large waves crash over the sea walls at Cleveleys near Blackpool, as the remains of Storm Freya, which has battered Britain with gales, heavy rain and snow causes widespread travel disruption
PA
43/50 3 March 2019
Christopher Hepworth with partner Tanisha Prince (right) on their way to victory in the annual UK Wife Carrying Race at The Nower in Dorking, Surrey
PA
44/50 2 March 2019
Police officers search near the scene on St Neot’s Road in Harold Hill, east London following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old girl on Friday night. Police were called to reports of a knife attack in the Romford area by the ambulance service at 9.25pm. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene just over an hour later. Her next of kin have been informed and detectives from the Metropolitan Police have launched a murder investigation
PA
45/50 1 March 2019
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson celebrate after winning gold and silver medals in the women’s pentathlon at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow
Getty
46/50 28 February 2019
A painting, believed to be the second version of “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is picutred during a photocall in London following its restoration. – The 400-year-old canvas — depicting the beheading of an Assyrian general, Holofernes, by Judith from the biblical Book of Judith — was found in 2014 when the owners of a house near the southwestern city of Toulouse in France, were investigating a leak in the ceiling. It is a burst of violence painted in haunting tones by a Renaissance master worth at least $100 million — or yet another fake distressing the art world.
AFP/Getty
47/50 27 February 2019
Dozens of firefighters worked through the night to battle a major moorland blaze in West Yorkshire. More than 1.5sq km of Saddleworth Moor was ablaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the UK’s hottest winter day on record
Reuters
48/50 26 February 2019
Alastair Cook after he received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace
PA
49/50 25 February 2019
Nobby the polar bear cools down at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park during unseasonably warm weather. The park was covered in a blanket of snow at the end of February 2018 as the UK was hit by sub-zero temperatures. Forecasters have said that after this weekend’s warm weather, temperatures later this week should return to normal
PA
50/50 24 February 2019
Olivia Colman won the best actress in a leading role award for ‘The Favourite’ at the 91st Academy Awards in Hollywood
PA
The stories came to light as a National Education Union (NEU) report warns that local authorities in England have reached “crisis point”, with nine out of 10 facing shortfalls of thousands of pounds.
Local authorities do not have enough money to provide adequate resources for SEND provision in school as the funding from government fails to keep up with growing demand, the NEU says.
Parents are increasingly entering lengthy legal battles with local authorities over failures to provide support to their children with special educational needs and disabilities.
And families are now planning to march across the country next month to highlight a “national crisis” in SEND.
A number of parents told The Independent that their children had been at home for long periods after being excluded or “off-rolled” – a process of removing a child from the school’s register.
Some say they were encouraged by schools to withdraw their children amid a lack of resources.
One mother of an autistic boy said they had been “backed into a corner with no choice” but to take their son out of school.
When he was out of education for nine months, the teenager became “increasingly withdrawn and unhappy” and “violent meltdowns” became the norm, she said.
Families have also had to resort to home schooling due to a lack of specialist provision being available. And in some cases, parents have had to give up their careers to care for children during the day.
Laura Berrill is still waiting for her son, who has Asperger’s, to start in a specialist college after spending nearly two years at home. His mental health has declined out of school.
“He got very skinny. He refused to wash and brush his teeth. He stopped talking. It was heartbreaking. It would make anyone depressed, let alone someone on the spectrum,” she said.
The number of children with an education healthcare plan, a legal document setting out a child’s needs, has risen from 240,000 to 320,000 since 2015 – a rise of a third, according to the NEU.
But the funding for the high needs block, the budget reserved to fund such additional provision, has only increased by 6 per cent over the same period, from £5.6bn to £6bn, the union says.
The report comes as hundreds of delegates of the NEU annual conference will debate whether to orchestrate a national campaign to oppose cuts in educational provision in Liverpool on Tuesday.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, warned that many local councils have been left “on the brink” amid funding cuts for SEND provision.
He said: “This is an appalling way to be addressing the education of some of our most vulnerable children and young people and is causing untold misery and worry for thousands of families.”
Mr Courtney added: “It is leading to very bad consequences for children where special needs support is being cut in schools and local authorities, and we hear stories of children that are out of the system for years at a time sometimes.”
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “The Tories’ cuts to education have disproportionately hit children with special educational needs. It is devastating that, as a result, some of the most vulnerable children are being forced out of school altogether.”
Anntoinette Bramble, chair of Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said councils were reaching a point where the money is not there to keep up with demand, pushing support for children with SEND “to a tipping point”.
The LGA is calling on the government to use the forthcoming spending review to “plug the estimated special needs funding gap facing councils of up to £1.6bn by 2021.”
Nadhim Zahawi, minister for children and families, said: “We have increased spending on high needs from £5bn in 2013 to £6.3bn this year and it is not right to imply funding has been cut.
“We recognise the challenges facing local authorities and in December provided an extra £250m up to 2020 to help them manage high needs cost pressures.
“We have also provided councils with an extra £100m funding to create more SEND places in mainstream schools, colleges and special schools.”
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