Diminishing levels of respite care for SEND families in Warwickshire were questioned again this week – but parent-carers received no answers.

Warwickshire County Council conducts eligibility assessments to see whether and what respite care is needed for families and carers of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Those who meet the criteria may be helped in a number of ways from community-led services to overnight care support in the home or respite breaks in specialised settings to alleviate the pressure on families who have 24-7 caring responsibilities.

The council has an obligation to provide the support outlined by its assessment but the closure of overnight respite provision in Kenilworth and pressure on NHS-led services has exacerbated existing struggles with the availability of out-of-home overnight respite.

A survey conducted in late 2025 by Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice, an independent advocacy group that works with the council, showed "significant gaps in provision, awareness and accessibility with serious implications for the wellbeing of families".

It noted at the time that parent carers were asking for "more respite, emotional support, inclusive activities, trained staff and clear communication".

"Above all, they asked to be heard, understood and treated with compassion," the survey summary read.

The Kenilworth facility, operated by an external provider, has since closed with the council's executive director for children and young people John Coleman acknowledging to the county's children and young people's overview and scrutiny committee in June that there was "no current overnight support being offered by the provider".

"That is not a situation we are happy with or satisfied with," he said, insisting "a great deal of work" had gone into seeking solutions but that outreach support had been limited to "two or three hours in the evening" as a result.

"We recognise it is not what the offer was, that they (families) needed or what they would want to happen because of what they were receiving previously," he said.

That admission followed a prickly exchange between politicians over the matter.

Leader Cllr George Finch was fielding questions in the absence of portfolio holder for children, families, education and SEND Cllr Wayne Briggs.

"I think it is important to make sure children who wouldn't necessarily be able to have breaks do," said Cllr Finch, who had held the children and families portfolio himself until May 2026 when he merged the role with Cllr Briggs's education responsibilities.

"I think it is important that children with disabilities who struggle on a day-to-day basis with just doing the average activities do have some sort of support and can access breaks."

That was questioned by Cllr Jennifer McAllister who explained that the respite was for the carers, not the children.

Cllr Finch replied: "I think you probably needed to clarify your question a bit better, you didn't specify that straightaway."

The scrutiny committee convened again this week with SEND parent carer Elissa Novak submitting a statement.

"I was deeply concerned by the way overnight respite was described during the discussion," she wrote.

"The language used appeared to frame it as essentially a nice holiday for disabled children. If that is how this service is understood at senior levels of this council, then I think we have a fundamental problem."

She went on to detail how "overnight respite is a vital form of social care" for parent carers.

"Years of caring for a child who does not sleep have had a profound effect on my health," she continued.

"Overnight respite isn't giving me a glamorous social life. Most of the time it gives me the chance to sleep. To recover slightly. To attend my own medical appointments, to have a little space from the relentless responsibility of caring and then to be able to carry on."

Citing the council's own report from 2024, which highlighted that "provision was historically limited and not accessible county-wide" and the need for more overnight beds, she queried whether capacity had been increased and if not, why not.

"Following the loss of Rouncil Lane (Kenilworth), children who don't require NHS overnight respite have been left without equivalent provision," added Ms Novak.

"Meanwhile, families using NHS provision at Gramer and Holly House are reporting reductions and cancellations of respite, alongside concerns about emergency mental health placements displacing planned short breaks.

"Families do not have an unlimited capacity to absorb failure in the system. Eventually something gives.

"Parents become physically or mentally unwell. Relationships break down. Siblings are affected. Parents leave employment. Families reach crisis. And, at the most serious end, a family may become unable to continue caring for their disabled child at home."

Arguing "that human cost should be enough for us to act", she also points out that those who end up in NHS care when families can no longer cope come at greater financial cost.

"The need doesn't disappear when respite isn't provided. The cost simply moves somewhere else," she concluded.

The meeting moved to more than an hour-and-a-half of discussion of the council's SEND plans, finances and the plummeting performance on issuing children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

The respite care was not brought back up but is due to be reported on and discussed at November's joint meeting between this panel and the adult social care and health scrutiny committee.