Tom Harwood outraged as special educational needs support for ONE family costs 'more than sending a child to Eton' - 'Staggering!'

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said Labour is "committed to reforming help for children with learning difficulties or disabilities", but refused to guarantee that parents would retain the right to ensure their children receive bespoke support for their needs.

Highlighting the current £12billion cost for special educational need support, Tom revealed: "In 2022 was £8billion, and what we're spending on it this year is £12billion, a 50 per cent increase.

"That is a 50 per cent increase in the space of just a handful of years, and that's real money. That's a huge amount of money."

Tom told Emily of the information he received from a UK councillor: "I heard from a councillor not so long ago of a case where one family with two children were getting a separate taxi to go to and from school every single day, because they were classified as Send kids.

"They were going to the same school, but they needed two separate cars because they couldn't bear to be in the same car together, and this was costing more than it costs to send a child to boarding school at Eton.

"That's coming out of council money for this one family, two children just on the taxis to get to school. It's actually crazy."

Questioning the efficiency of the Send (special educational needs and disabilities) system, Tom asked: "What's going on in the system? Are people being misdiagnosed, is the criteria set wrong?"

Emily then pointed out the current "black hole" in Labour's finances, and how they are now being forced to "scratch around" for savings.

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She said: "With these stories about scratching around for a wealth tax to try and plug this gap, well maybe if you hadn't created this financial black hole, then we wouldn't be in the position where we're scrambling around for more and more things to tax, but that is the state of play.

"This special needs help for pupils, it is quite staggering how many children now require the support. Severe learning difficulties and physical disabilities make up just four per cent of those who need these Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)."

Tom then interjected fuming: "So 96 per cent of children who are on these special care plans don't have severe needs?"

Emily responded: "So there's been a huge rise, as you might expect, in autism, which of course can vary massively.

"Speech, language and communication needs, and social, emotional and mental health needs, which includes ADHD.

"Now 639,000 children in England need this support. 11 per cent increase in the year to January, double what it was six years ago." Tom then stated: "No wonder our councils are going bankrupt?!"

Arguing in favour of Labour reforming the Send system, Emily explained: "This is the thing, the Government may well be right to want to reform this and think can we spend this money better?

"Because it's the councils that have to pick up the bill, isn't it?"

Tom agreed, concluding: "Absolutely, and then councils are going bankrupt left, right and centre, and taxes are going up.

"It's easy to forget that this Government has a massive majority in the House of Commons, and it's behaving like it has no majority at all. Has it just lost control?"

A Department for Education spokesman said: "We have been clear that there are no plans to abolish Send tribunals, or to remove funding or support from children, families and schools."