Because of your incredible backing over the last 10 days, the Deputy Leader of West Berkshire Council, Cllr Heather Codling, has issued an official response to our campaign.
What they admitted because of us:
They conceded that "some needs remain unmet" across the district.
They officially agreed to "continue to explore the feasibility of a centralised, hub-based model" in future phases.
They confirmed the following limited, capped spaces are being offered for Summer 2026: Swings & Smiles: Capped at up to 3 places per session for complex needs,
Next Thing Education: Capped at just 6 places at a 1:3 staffing ratio.
Make Sense Theatre: Offering up to 6 complex needs places, but based across the border in Reading.
Forest School Provision: Offering SEND-accessible sessions across 2 days.
The massive catch & the Mencap reality:
Capping local complex needs expansion at such small numbers confirms that the vast majority of our local families are still entirely locked out of summer care.
Worse, the council's response states that West Berkshire Mencap in Newbury is "currently reviewing options” Yet, our parent network has already received Mencap’s finalised Summer timetable today. It features NO funded HAF spaces and instead charges vulnerable families a premium rate of £22.43 per hour out of their own pockets! Direct parent queries to their executive leadership asking about HAF funding are being completely ignored.
Our Next Steps:
We have officially responded to Cllr Codling today and CC'ed the leaders of the Conservative, Green, and Independent opposition blocks alongside our MP's caseworker. We are demanding an official audit into local provider cooperation, pushing the council to use its financial leverage to force dominant providers like Mencap to offer HAF slots, and demanding a simple, shared system to log every time a SEND child is turned away from summer care so the council can never claim they have "no record" of shortages again.
We have proven that when parents unite, the council is forced to answer.
Please share our petition link on your Facebook and WhatsApp groups today—let’s double our numbers to 130 signatures so they cannot brush us aside!