Buckinghamshire politicians accused of 'misleading' public over reported school construction cancellation
Buckinghamshire’s Labour MPs have challenged claims that a planned SEND school in the county had been cancelled, saying the proposal was never funded or ready to be delivered.
In a letter to Buckinghamshire Council leader, Cllr Steven Broadbent, MPs Callum Anderson, Emma Reynolds and Laura Kyrke-Smith said describing the scheme as a cancelled school risked misleading families and raising false expectations.
The rebuttal follows comments by Conservative MP Greg Smith, who said a planned £18 million, 152-place SEND school due to open in 2028 had been cancelled and replaced with £8 million in alternative funding.
But the Labour MPs said the proposal, announced towards the end of the previous Conservative government, had not been supported by a delivery plan, an approved business case or secured funding.
They said the project remained at a very early stage and would not have opened until “well beyond 2030”.
In their letter, the MPs said their priority was ensuring children and young people with SEND in Buckinghamshire receive support “as quickly and effectively as possible”, while acknowledging the pressure on families and the council after years of rising demand and delays in provision.
They said the Government had now committed £8 million of capital funding to expand specialist units in mainstream schools, adapt existing provision and create new places within special schools, allowing additional SEND places to be delivered more quickly.
The MPs said they agree with the council that the priority must be to bring forward SEND places without further delay and to ensure children are supported in good local provision wherever possible. They added that all three had offered to work across parties with the Leader and Cabinet to make sure this happens.
Emma Reynolds, MP for Wycombe, said: “Our government is focusing on what will make a real difference for families.
“The £8 million investment allows specialist places to be delivered at pace, rather than waiting many years for a project that had not progressed beyond its earliest stages.”
Aylesbury MP Laura Kyrke-Smith said: “Supporting children and young people with SEND should be beyond party politics.
“We want to work constructively with the council to deliver realistic, properly funded provision that keeps children closer to home and meets local need.”
Callum Anderson, Member of Parliament for Buckingham and Bletchley, said families deserved honesty about what had been deliverable, adding that the proposal had not been backed by funding, a business case or a delivery plan.
But Buckinghamshire Council leader Steven Broadbent said the proposed £8 million in funding was a “sticking plaster” and warned it would have an adverse impact on residents.
Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for education and children’s services, Cllr Carl Jackson, said rising demand meant the £8 million funding would fall short, adding that expanding existing schools to create the same number of places would cost about £18 million according to the Department for Education’s own figures.
It comes as the county is dealing with a £27m gap in the funding it uses to support children with special educational needs.