Councillor Mike Bell reports: “I attended a really interesting drop-in session for parent carers today, focussing on children with special educational needs and disabilities.

“Some progress has been made in addressing weaknesses in services, despite chronic underfunding by government. However, it’s clear listening to parents and families that we’ve got a long way to go to meet local needs.

“Together with council colleagues, we’ll be stepping up our lobbying of government for fairer funding. We’ll also look to see what more we can do locally to help, despite the funding pressures.”