Families across the country have shared 653 accounts exposing unlawful, harmful, or unethical behaviour by 117 local authorities.
Every major political party is represented among them — this is not about party politics, but about a system that is broken. Local accountability is being bypassed, and in places like Surrey, the truth has been buried. For over a year, the council concealed that it had the highest tribunal complaint rate in the country.
While councils face huge financial pressures around SEND, too often that pressure has translated into a culture of lying and treating children’s suffering as just another “problem to manage.” The result is a system that has become dishonest and brutalised.
If we reduce their SEND rights and throw our children to local authorities we cannot trust, we throw away their lives.
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During a Treasury Select Committee hearing, I asked Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, how concerned he is about the fall in UK productivity in the last year.
During a Treasury Select Committee hearing, I asked the Chief Economist of the Bank of England about easing monetary policy too fast.
During Housing Oral Questions, I asked the Secretary of State for Housing to meet with me regarding the proposed GP Surgery for Westvale Park in my constituency.
I wrote to Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, with Surrey Liberal Democrat MP colleagues, to request that she now directly intervenes with necessary measures to prevent the risk of any further harm to children and families in Surrey
I was alerted to an extremely dangerous 6 metre pothole on Ifield Road.
Chris discusses expert research that early intervention for children with SEND is crucial in order to set them up for success on BBC Politics Southeast.
