Liberal Democrats have welcomed an announcement that Herts County Council has finally adopted their proposal that more money should be spent on improving the council's poor performance dealing with special educational needs for children. Liberal Democrats had proposed this at the time that the County Council set its budget back in February but the Conservatives voted down the idea.
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Mark Watkin said:
"They say that they have now found more money for special educational needs (SEND) but we explained how they could do this, rather than just keeping additional cash in reserves for a rainy day, nearly three months ago. It is good that they have now admitted that they were wrong to block this, but it is a pity that children across Hertfordshire will have to wait an additional three months for the extra help that this money will provide. Also, while the money is welcomed, the key question is how it will be spent and we will fight to make sure that it is used to make a real difference to the families with SEND children."
Councillors were told at this week's County Council meeting that more cash would be made available for SEND but the details will not be available until next month with the decision not expected to be finally confirmed by the cabinet until July, so real improvements in the SEND service from this are still months away.
