WIREDGOV

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, responded to the National Deaf Children Society and CRIDE's research into the levels of specialist support for deaf children

"Councils know that deafness can make life incredibly difficult for some children who experience it, and take their responsibilities to support not just deaf children, but all those with special educational needs or disabilities, through education, extremely seriously.

"We have made it clear for some time now that there must be additional and on-going funding from the Government to enable us to support high-needs children and their families. 

"Children's services currently face a £2 billion funding gap by 2020. The recent Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement provided no new money for these vital services. The upcoming final settlement must urgently address this. If it doesn't, some councils may struggle to meet their statutory responsibilities."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.    Specialist teaching support for deaf children is just one aspect of a range of measures that councils provide to help families of deaf children, including assistance with specialist equipment and support for families at home and throughout children’s education.