NEWLY elected St Helens North MP David Baines has today spoken in Parliament for the first time, using the opportunity to calls for more support for children with special educational needs.

Speaking in parliamentary Business Questions, Mr Baines asked the Leader of the House Lucy Powell MP for time to be given for a debate on the challenges surrounding SEN.

The MP, who worked as a teacher before entering politics, has also become aware of the issue while leading the council.

He said: “I welcome and look forward to debating the Children’s Wellbeing Bill announced yesterday.

"In St Helens North there are many children in mainstream settings with special educational needs such as dyslexia and autism either waiting for assessment or struggling for support, despite the best efforts of their fantastic schools and hardworking teachers.

"As part of the debate on the Bill I hope there will be time for consideration of this issue but if not could time be found so that we can ensure no child is left behind?”

Speaking later, Mr Baines added: “As a former volunteer youth worker, teacher, and council leader, I have always been committed to doing everything possible to help children get the best possible start in life and it will continue to be a priority for me as the Member of Parliament for St Helens North.

"I have spoken with many families who are desperately struggling to get their children the assessments or support they need, and I know from speaking to schools just how overstretched they are.

"The Labour government are fully committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and I will do all I can to ensure every single child in St Helens North gets the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will be one of dozens of new Bills brought before parliament in the coming year.

Last month the Star reported how 9 in 10 children in St Helens faced long waits for special educational needs support plans last year, new figures show.

Across England, the number of new education, health and care (EHC) plans rose by more than a quarter, but nearly half of all children and young people receiving one experienced prolonged waits before getting it.

The Association of School and College Leaders said failure to match the rising demand with appropriate government investment has brought the special education needs (SEND) system “to the brink of collapse”.

An EHC plan is for children and young people who need more support than is available through conventional special educational needs support. EHC plans identify these needs and set out additional support required to meet them.

Department for Education figures show 248 children and young people aged up to 25 received an EHC plan from St Helens Borough Council in 2023. This was up from the 173 plans issued the year before.

In St Helens, just 11% of all support plans were provided within the time limit.

Nationally, 84,428 new EHC plans started during last year, up by 27% from 2022. However, the figures show just 50% of them were issued within the 20-week time limit – a slight improvement from 49% in 2022.

A St Helens Borough Council spokesperson told the Star in June: "We understand how important it is for children and young people to get the right support at the right time and we are doing all we can to try and deliver assessments in as timely a manner as we can.

“Over a number of years we've seen a continued growth in demand for EHCPs for young people across the borough, indeed in the last year we have seen our demand rise higher almost twice the national average, on top of the demands that have come in recent years.

“We are continuing to try to find ways to bring the waiting time down including appointing additional staff and working with schools to expand SEND provision.

“We understand the frustration and anxiety delays cause children and their families and we ask parents to work with us as we try to address this issue."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The number of children needing additional support through education and healthcare plans is now at a record high, but many families are still waiting too long for the assessments, and provision that they need.”

He added: “The current system is simply not sustainable.

“The next government must tackle the SEND crisis as a priority.”