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Proper funding must be restored for special educational needs
Labour’s refusal to restore council funding is a betrayal of the vulnerable, and particularly of Send children and young people, says independent candidate CLAUDIA WEBBE

LABOUR’S refusal to promise to restore council funding to the levels in place before the 2010 Conservative government is a betrayal that means many of our most vulnerable people will continue to live in poverty and hardship and our communities will remain in economic decline.

Councils across England have cut services to the bone because of the Tories’ ideologically driven cuts — and the Labour Party will not reverse these cuts if it gets into government this week.

To take a very concrete example, Leicester City Council, like many local authorities, is treating young people with special education needs and/or disabilities (Send) as scapegoats for the budget-cutting measures forced on the council by central government funding cuts.

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