Council does not bully SEND parents, Bristol mayor says

The city's mayor has denied the council "intimidates, gaslights and bullies" parents of children with special educational needs.

Councillor Christine Townsend accused Bristol City Council of treating SEND families with "contempt" amid cuts.

Mayor Marvin Rees told a meeting the council was not pursuing "some great evil subterfuge plot".

It follows a series of crises in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

Mr Rees told a council meeting on 21 February: "We do have a responsibility of setting the tone in the city," and said councillors "talking about gaslighting, bullying, all of that type of stuff," was unhelpful.

The row prompted the intervention of Lord Mayor Paula O'Rourke, to keep the debate civil.

Councillors were debating councillor Tim Kent's budget amendment to cut £184,000 from legal defences of SEND tribunals and redirect the cash into employing more caseworkers to resolve disputes earlier and speed up assessments for young people.

The chamber voted in favour of the motion, with support from both Labour and Green council members, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The amendment concerns £200,000 out of the £450m 2023/24 schools budget, including £86.5m for high needs.

Mr Rees told the council meeting that most people who entered local politics in Bristol were "grappling with how to meet the needs of a growing population with dwindling resources", including early interventions SEND to prevent crises later on.

"To start throwing around some idea that there is some great evil subterfuge plot against people in the city is just irresponsible and does not help the brand of politics that happens in this chamber," he added.

Deputy mayor Asher Craig said the rising number of cases was linked to an increased need.

She added: "Labour's budget includes additional investment of £1m to recruit additional SEND staff to improve assessment timescales, address the increase in SEND cases and the imperative to reduce the statutory wait time of 20 weeks."

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