“The ‘advice’ was to stay put and someone would come to get me. It swiftly became apparent that no one was coming…”
That’s a quote from Dr Hannah Barham-Brown, who last week found herself stuck in a Premier Inn during a fire alarm. Stay put advice and fires reminds me of Grenfell. 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire – a disproportionate number of them Disabled people and children.
Premier Inn had already set the scene for Hannah earlier in the day when it had made her navigate inappropriate back entrances, which were locked shut, to enter the hotel in her wheelchair. It’s never a good omen when you’re forced to summon a staff member to go anywhere in a public place, and when entrances are locked, trapping you in or out. But in a fire alarm, the stakes take an altogether higher turn.
Premier Inn initially quoted access issues as being part of the listed nature of the building. Adaptations can be made to listed buildings. And there’s nothing in the literature about keeping things locked in any listed building advice. And it certainly doesn’t affect whether or not Disabled people are prioritised during fire alarms. It’s imperative that there are safe, workable evacuation plans in place for Disabled people in all public buildings.
This isn’t the first time Premier Inn has failed its Disabled customers. Angharad Paget-Jones was kicked out for bringing her ‘pet’ guide dog along. And Joshua Reeves, who needs a hoist to transfer into bed, was told there was no hoist for him and he should sleep in his chair.
Premier Inn’s most recent ad campaign featured the strapline “ Same feeling, whatever the trip ”. Ain’t that the truth. But it’s not alone. Finding an accessible hotel is hard work. From big chains, to independents, it’s hard to stay away from home if you’re Disabled. Reassurances from staff too often translate into inaccessibility on the ground. Perhaps if access was considered as part of the various star ratings, hotels would take things more seriously. Because right now the Equality Act, and the reasonable adjustments stipulated in it for Disabled people, are being ignored.
The SEND Improvement Plan
The Government released the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) plan: right support, right place, right time recently. SEND provision in the UK has been off a cliff for a while now, and since Covid, has been exacerbated, as the number of children in severe mental health distress has almost doubled.
The trouble with the plan is, it doesn’t prioritise improving provision and funding is limited. You can’t provide the kinds of services Disabled children need by shaking a few extra pennies around in the bottom of the tin. That’s 1.5 million Disabled children, half of whom need extra support.
The plan notes that the current system is “financially unsustainable” and “not delivering value for money”. The reason for this? An increase in the number of children with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and expensive placements in independent specialist schools.
So the Government wants to reduce spending. The NEU has identified a £2.1bn shortfall in SEND funding. Local government puts it at £1.9bn. And no extra cash is yet forthcoming. Reducing spending is not going to improve outcomes. If you have more need, cutting spend doesn’t add up to the kind of solutions that help Disabled kids get their needs met and thrive.
The plan says that “despite unprecedented investment”, outcomes for Disabled children have failed to improve. Which is suggestive that no matter how much money is poured into Disabled children’s needs, it’s never going to be enough.
You can almost feel the pitying shake of the head as the purse strings are being pulled tighter.
But the plan doesn’t recognise where the money has gone, nor the consistent failure by local authorities to meet their legal obligations under both the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010.
Research by Special Needs Jungle has found that councils have spent over £253 million fighting parents at SEND tribunals since Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) – specialist paperwork which gives Disabled children specific support – were introduced in 2014.
The stupendous number of tribunals highlights just how often local authorities are acting unlawfully. Obligations under the Children and Families Act include identifying children’s needs, specifying and quantifying all of the necessary support to meet these needs within an EHCP, and implementing that plan in an education setting able to deliver that provision. 95% of appeals ruled in parents’ favour. In other words, 95% of councils didn’t comply with their legal obligations. Disabled young people are being failed because councils are failing them. And councils are failing them because local government is not being given anywhere near enough money to meet local needs – from potholes to refuse collection to social care to education. National government has cut funding for years. And the money which is available for SEND is going into the legal system through these tribunals.
Just four per cent of kids who need support have an EHCP. The rest have to rely on mainstream schools supporting them as best they can. And mainstream schools have totally inadequate funding. If teachers are spending their own funds on books and stationery supplies, and broken windows are falling out of broken frames, SEND gets pushed to the bottom of the pile again.
Disabled kids are three times more likely to have no qualifications than non-Disabled children. The upshot of this is less employment and more poverty in adulthood. If national Government really thinks that Disabled kids are costing too much now, how much more are they going to cost as failed adults, with low life and job prospects? What will the lifetime support costs be in comparison with the right support in early life?
Labour recognised this. It’s why it invested so much money in Sure Start centres for family support which started at pregnancy, and carried on through school (centres which in the past decade have been slimmed down or closed across the country at a rate of knots). If you don’t water the seedling, you don’t get a mighty tree. Disabled children need extra support and are dismissed, from cradle, as worthless, without the money coming in to allow them to thrive. And we absolutely can thrive. Have no doubt about that. But only if we are supported and given the right resources.
