Special needs responsibilities were heaped on councils as funding shrank

The Guardian found huge variation in the delays children face, as demand has outstripped provision

• Hundreds of children with special needs wait a year for support
• Special school places allocated on very fine margins', twins' father says

There was a familiar feel to last month's Commons debate on special needs funding: MPs berating the government over its lack of support for local authorities in England, for the long delays in assessments and severe shortages of special school places.

But many of the debate's most damning complaints came from Conservative MPs, whose reports of frustration and anger from their constituents were indistinguishable from the opposition's.