Young people with SEND in Portsmouth show where improvements need to be made to help them throughout life

Young people, aged 13 to 25, have had their say on the support services available to them, and have highlighted where improvements need to be made.

In total, 681 people answered the survey on behalf of 747 children and young people with SEND.

The survey revealed that 92 per cent of people with SEND have not received any training on travelling to school independently and 23 percent of people said that the support that schools offer needs to be improved.

Councillor Suzy Horton, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for children, families and education, said: ‘It is so important that we help all young people to achieve their aspirations and remove as many barriers as we can to help them to progress.

‘I encourage businesses, organisations and services across the city to look at the results and consider what improvements they could make to support young people with SEND in our city.’

The survey comes as the Portsmouth City Council launched its bi-annual survey in collaboration with Dynamite youth group.

Dynamite youth group is a charity that specialises in supporting people with special education needs and disabilities.

The youth group have recently held an election to vote in the new chairs and Ruby Jewell and Cameron Locke were voted in as co- chairs.

Sarah Mitas, who runs Dynamite youth group, said: ‘Members of our group have already formed committees to respond to the survey results and see where things can be improved.

‘We also want Dynamite to be more present in schools and colleges to encourage people to join or to have their voice heard by voicing to a representative.’

The biggest needed improvement is that people with SEND want tips on how to travel independently and the council and youth group are working towards achieving this.

The council, over the past six years, has made significant progress through a large amount of money being invested into a number of schemes to provide accommodation and improved environments to help SEND students benefit from attending mainstream schools.

This survey has taken place multiple times over the years, and the feedback made is due to be acted on as it has been in previous years.