Kettering’s MP Rosie Wrighting has launched a survey for parents and carers to have their say on the SEND system.

The Labour MP has invited parents, carers and those who work with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to share their experiences.

People are being urged to complete a survey ahead of the Government’s planned reforms to SEND provision, due to be announced later this year, so she can hear first-hand from local people about what is and isn’t working and their thoughts on how the system can be improved.

More than 500 responses to council's first annual SEND survey targeted at improv...

Rosie Wrighting MP for Kettering on a visit to Wren Spinney School with headteacher Joshua Gershwin-Williams/Wrenn Spinney

She will relay feedback to ministers at the Department for Education to make sure that the ‘voices of local people are heard’.

Ms Wrighting said: “Since being elected last year I’ve had a SEND parent come to me in desperation at almost every surgery I’ve held because their child is not getting the education they deserve.

“It’s one of the top issues in my inbox and it’s clear that too many children in Kettering, Burton Latimer, Desborough, Rothwell and the villages are being failed.

“I want to hear from as many parents, carers and SEND staff as possible about how they have found the system so that their experiences can be taken into consideration.”

Since entering government, Labour says it has restructured the Department for Education to put SEND ‘at its heart’.

Ms Wrighting’s survey comes after another led by Northamptonshire Parent Carer Voice before the summer, that asked people for their views about SEND facilities in north Northamptonshire. It received more than 500 responses, including 50 from young people. The information will be used by North Northants Council to ‘improve services, strengthen communication, and ensure every child with SEND has the right support’.

So far the current Government says it has invested £740m to adapt classrooms and build specialist facilities for children with SEND, including in mainstream schools.

As well as raising ‘multiple’ SEND cases with North Northamptonshire Council on behalf of local parents, Ms Wrighting has also visited Wren Spinney School and Kingsley Special Academy in Kettering to speak to leaders and teachers about SEND provision.

She added: “The SEND system we inherited has totally lost the confidence of families.

“There is no magic wand and this will require complex reform, but this Labour Government is committed to restoring that confidence.”

To take the survey, visit https://survey.labour.org.uk/ketteringsendsurvey.