Election 2005: ask your candidates to sign the pledges

IPSEA launched its campaign to end the scandal of children with special needs being denied the help at school to which they are legally entitled by winning support from three parliamentary candidates the day after the election was called. But IPSEA needs your help to sign up more candidates.

In IPSEA's view, the causes of the scandal are:

Local Education Authorities (LEAs) unlawfully refusing to assess children's needs and -- also unlawfully -- refusing to specify how much help children are entitled to receive; and
the Secretary of State for Education and Skills failing to take a firm stand against LEA law-breakers, despite having the power and the duty to do so.

Mainly as a result of this scandal of children's needs not being met, children with special needs make up two-thirds of all children excluded from school.

IPSEA is asking everyone who is concerned for the welfare of children with special educational needs - but mainly parents and teachers -- to raise the issue of special needs on the doorstep when election candidates come calling (although Mark, Angela and Rudi preferred to meet IPSEA volunteer Marina Faggionato on their Westminster doorstep) to sign up to IPSEA's pledges. Bob Blizzard (Labour) has also promised to sign.

John Wright of IPSEA said today (8 April 2005):

"We want all candidates to pledge themselves to take up the issue of unlawful behaviour by LEAs within their own parties (none of the main parties has a clean record sheet at LEA level with regard to obeying the law on special educational needs). And, if elected, we want Members to press the Secretary of State on the need for reform of his/her investigative functions when complaints of unlawful behaviour by LEAs are lodged. At present it can take up to a year for an investigation to be completed, even when all the evidence needed is supplied at the beginning along with the complaint.

Following the election, IPSEA will be contacting MPs who signed the pledges to see what action they have been able to take to defend the rights of children with special needs."

To download the pledges for your candidates, click here. Please let IPSEA know when you get a candidate to sign and we'll post their names on this web site.