Midsomer Norton MP Anna Sabine said the Government must “provide local authorities with extra funding” to manage the care needed for students and children with additional needs.

The demand came in a debate on Government support for education, health and care plans and in the wake of the uncertain future of Newton House, in Keynsham, which supports people with severe medical needs.

Mrs Sabine (Lib Dem, Frome and East Somerset) spoke in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, January 22, where she cited a constituent who has found that, despite a diagnosis and medical recognition of need for an education, health and care plan (EHCP), her child has slipped through the cracks of the system.

She is now calling for a clearer and more “straightforward” path for parents to access the support needed.

Speaking of the “immense financial strain” councils across the country are currently facing, Anna lamented the “woefully under-resourced” system which is failing to help children to thrive. She said the Government must begin to properly support councils which are trying to administer the plans for children and families in the region.

While medical assessors and authorities have become better in recent times at diagnosing and recognising additional needs, particularly in children, the financial and systemic provisions to deliver the care needed is lacking.

Mrs Sabine sent her speech to The Journal, which said: “With limited time, I’d like to raise a very specific issue. My constituency of Frome and East Somerset falls under both Bath and North East Somerset and Somerset Councils meaning that there have been instances where children’s specific cases, claims and tribunals fall between two different systems.

“One of my constituents wrote to me about their child, who is 14 and has central nervous system lupus, epilepsy, ADHD and visual and sensory processing disorders. All their needs were documented by an educational psychologist who recommended that their needs be drawn up into an EHCP.

“Despite this medical recognition of an EHCP, as well as the diagnosis, for more than a year Bath and North East Somerset Council and Somerset Council went back and forth over which local authority should take responsibility for the EHCP, because the child’s parents were separated with one in each authority, and the child split their time evenly between the two.

“This cannot be an uncommon occurrence, and yet there were delays and stress for the family while they waited for their case to come to a tribunal. In the 15 months it has taken to resolve this issue, the child’s mother estimates he has missed 1,100 lessons.

“Many local authorities are of course under immense financial strain and I can’t see how this situation can be resolved until the Government relieves councils by providing local authorities with extra funding and by making EHCP applications as simple and straightforward as possible.

“We are better than ever at diagnosing additional needs, but the system is woefully under-resourced to support children to thrive.”