Whitehaven and Workington MP, Josh MacAlister is inviting parents from across West Cumbria to join him for a coffee morning to discuss special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The coffee morning comes ahead of planned government reforms to the SEND system expected to be published in the autumn.

It is a chance for local parents to share their views which will be fed into Ministers at the Department for Education.

The coffee morning will be held in Workington from 10am-12pm on Tuesday, August 26.

Josh said: “The current system to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has lost the confidence of too many families in West Cumbria.

“Even the Conservatives admit they failed. We need a system that puts children’s needs first.

“To help shape that system, I’m holding a coffee morning for local parents with direct experience of the SEND system.

“I’ll be feeding your views directly to the Education Secretary ahead of the reforms expected this autumn.”

Since entering government, Labour has restructured the Department for Education to put SEND at its heart and brought in experts to guide long-overdue reform.

£1 billion extra has already been invested to support children with the most complex learning needs and £740 million to expand specialist provision in mainstream schools.

200 additional specialist provision places are planned for schools in Cumberland by 2026, including 19 extra places at Mayfield this September.

The coffee morning will be held in Workington from 10am-12pm on Tuesday, August 26.

Anyone interested in attending can register at joshmacalister.uk/meetjosh or by calling Josh’s office on 01946 458023, leaving your full name and address.