Steve Score, Leicester Socialist Party
Parents of young people with special educational needs, the SEND 16+ campaign, have won a victory in their battle over the Leicester Labour council’s plan to end school transport and travel support to the 16-plus age group.
It is a battle won, but the war isn’t over! We have forced the council to re-run its flawed consultation, which means that this cut, due to take place at the end of the school term, will be delayed by at least a year.
All the campaigning, and particularly the two separate notice of legal action letters sent to the council threatening judicial reviews, have had their effect.
It was the parents organising together, drawing in support from outside their group, and discussing and planning their strategy that has achieved this.
It meant the attempts to demoralise campaigners failed. We were told there was no choice, as the council was imminently going to run out of money and that we had to be practical. We were also told by council officials that there was no point trying to take legal action as the decision was made over two years ago and therefore out of time. That of course ignored the fact that we did not get informed about the decision at the time, nor the ‘consultation’ that preceded it!
The next stage will be to maximise the response to the new consultation, and to keep up the public pressure on the council.
We don’t know if we will win a complete scrapping of the plans in the long run, but this has proved once again that if you fight you can win!
Certainly, we will raise in the coming election that an incoming government – likely to be Labour – could put the money into local councils to keep all the vital services running. If it refuses, then the battle for proper funding for councils will continue.
The Socialist Party intends to stand in this general election in Leicester West, as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition to advocate the need for a new mass working-class party which will fund services not big business profits.
