Children trained to meet SEND criteria - councillor

Children are "often trained to comply" with special educational needs criteria by their parents in order to receive benefits, a councillor has claimed.

City of Doncaster Council's David Knight said support, such as transport provision, given to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) had caused an "explosion" in claims.

The Reform UK councillor is a voluntary director of Ward Transportation Ltd which, until recently, was contracted by the authority to provide school taxi services for children with SEND.

Jane Harris, vice chair of the Disabled Children's Partnership, said the comments were "ignorant" and it was an "absolute fantasy" that people could get support easily.

She said: "It is really hard to believe that anybody who is elected as a councillor who's meant to stand up for the people who live in their area would say something like this."

She said parents had to provide "stacks and stacks" of evidence over a long period of time with multiple assessors involved in order to secure support from "cash-strapped" authorities.

"You cannot train a child to be able to fake something so that those people can agree with you," she added.

In a speech to a scrutiny committee meeting on 26 March lasting more than six minutes, Knight claimed schools excluded children who were unlikely to get good results which put them into the SEND system.

He said benefits had caused an "explosion of SEN claims".

"Benefits includes a child being placed in a satellite school, with one-to-one tuition, transport provided complete with passenger assistance and the parent being awarded financial packages to assist," he said.

"To achieve SEN status for the child, criteria have to be met. Once a parent knows the criteria, a child is often trained to comply."

He said there was a "poor waste" of council money being spent on school transport for children with SEND and asked for it to be reviewed.

In 2023/24, councils across England spent £1.5bn on school transport for 470,000 students, more than double the amount in 2015/16.

One councillor described his speech as "utter madness", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Harris said it was "really hurtful" to families and children who were "often some of the most vulnerable people in our society".

Research by the Disabled Children's Partnership earlier this year found 57% of parents of children with SEND felt they had been lied to by councils.

"If the body that you're meant to get help from you feel is lying to you, that really undermines children's futures," Harris said.

"We really cannot have councillors saying ridiculous things like this."

As of last year, Ward Transportation Ltd was one of 32 firms contracted by the council to transport children with SEND between school and their homes.

A Reform UK group spokesperson said Knight had "taken the personal decision to step back" from the taxi contract.

They said the remarks represented his "personal experiences and perceptions" based on years of experience.

"His intention was to contribute to a broader discussion about the significant pressures facing SEND provision and social care services," they said.

"The views expressed by Cllr Knight were his own, but they were made in the context of raising concerns about system pressures, not to cause offence.

"We remain committed to respectful, balanced and constructive engagement on these important topics."

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