ILKLEY councillor Kyle Green has expressed disappointment after Bradford Council refused to pass a motion he proposed at a full council meeting calling for a consultation into the need for more dedicated places for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) in the north of the Bradford district.

Having been introduced to the LS29 Special Needs Support Group since being elected, Cllr Green (Con, Ilkley) has spoken to, emailed and met with many members of the group who have raised the transport issues that a lack of dedicated SEND provision has created.

Despite sharing experiences he has been made aware of with the council, such as a primary age SEND child having to take a three and a half hour journey to school due to transport issues, as well as children being forced to wear nappies again due to the length of journey they are undertaking, the Labour executive refused to undertake a full consultation of SEND provision in the north of the district and to limit school journey times for these children to no more than 10 hours per week. They also declined to commit to looking for new locations for SEND provision where the need was identified.

Cllr Green said: “Despite other parties supporting my motion, the fact that it was evidence based, and the fact that I consulted groups such as AWARE and LS29 before bringing this motion to council, Labour have opted to put politics in front of solving a vital issue. They opted to do this instead of looking at the facts, which show that for children in Ilkley or Addingham, the minimum journey time to get the education they deserve can be around 30 minutes each way. As well as this, the council isn’t banned from adding new provision in existing schools and therefore had no reason not to pass my motion unamended.”

Cllr Green added: “With significant new funding of £11.5million being invested in SEND provision, I hope the council can now start to look at creating areas for SEND provision. As well as this, I am pleased that the deputy leader of the council, Imran Khan, has agreed to meet with the LS29 group and myself to look at ways to improve the lives of the children affected by the lack of provision and longer journeys.”