Town delegation to meet minister

A GOVERNMENT minister has agreed to meet a delegation from Warrington to discuss post-16 high needs provision.
Education Minister David Laws agreed to the meeting following a request from Warrington North MP Helen Jones during an adjournment debate in Parliament.
In opening the debate, Ms Jones (right) said that she was disappointed that the debate was necessary but that the government’s decisions on post-16 high needs provision “may damage some of the most vulnerable young people in Warrington – young people whose disabilities are profound and whose care needs are extensive”.
She said: “We have a duty to ensure that they are provided with the best we can give them. Yet when Warrington received its allocation in late December, it found itself plunged into a crisis because the amount of money allocated to it was far less than the amount needed for the number of places it required.”
The MP pointed out that part of the problem was the funding was based on the number of places needed in 2010-11 – a three year time lag.
This was different to how other post-16 provision was funded, which was based on the previous year’s figures.
“Warrington’s funding is, therefore, based on a year when it required 88 places, but it already requires 151 and next year it will require 186. Funding only covers provision for 109 places.”
Ms Jones said: “Special needs block grant funding is 35 per cent nationally, whereas in Warrington it is 25 per cent, yet the proportion of people with special needs in Warrington is only 0.03 per cent below the national average.
“A local authority cannot control the numbers needing this provision, nor can it magic them away. It must deal with the young people as they are. If we do not provide for their needs, we let down not only them, but their families, who invest an enormous amount of time, effort and emotional energy in caring for them. The least we can offer them in support is the right care and education for their children.”
She finished by calling for a review of the provision, saying:
During the Minister’s reply, he agreed to meet the Mp and representatives from Warrington Borough Council.
“We are treating her concerns seriously.”
Cllr Colin Froggatt (left), Warrington Borough Council’s executive member for children and young people’s services, said: “I would like to thank Helen Jones for all the work she has done in highlighting the funding problem.
“She has worked in close cooperation with me and the council on this matter and I am delighted that she has secured a meeting for us with the minister. I believe Warrington has a strong case and am delighted that we can put that case directly to the minister. ”