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Cllr Catherine Gibbons, North Somerset Council's Deputy Leader and Executive Member for children's services said: "I welcome the fact that there is this national spotlight on SEND, as it's an area that deserves our collective attention. The findings are extremely worrying, but not surprising.
"As Chair of the SEND Improvement Board in North Somerset I know we've been relentlessly focussed on improving the experience of SEND children and their families and I'm proud of the fact that what we do is increasingly co-produced with our parent carers first and foremost.
"We have worked hard over recent years to act as a system with much better collaboration across Health, Education and the council SEND teams, and improvement has been made as a result. Practical improvements include the online portal for Education, Health and Care plans and the SEND Council giving us the direct voice of the children.
"We have also developed innovative solutions and have been commended for our nurture hubs and resource bases within mainstream schools - to create greater inclusion. We have a brand new specialist school at the expanded Baytree School and Lime Hills Academy's new site in development. Our other special schools accommodate children who need places willingly and flexibly and we are seeing some schools starting to close the gaps in achievement."
Overall, while efforts are being made to address needs, there remain significant challenges in providing adequate and timely support for children and young people with SEND across the UK.
Cllr Gibbons added: "The system we all strive to make work for all children is under intense strain with demand growing to levels that it was not designed to cope with, and to which the funding structures cannot respond.
"We do such good work, but we know we need to do more, we all want to do more but need the resources. The pressures we face with SEND are replicated all over the country.
"Our deeply committed, skilled staff are doing the best they can but often feel disheartened because the funding we have is simply not enough for the number of people we want to support. They took on their roles because they care about the children and their families and I'm so grateful for all that they do despite the challenging circumstances.
"What we all want is to be able to give SEND families and children the best possible help and support and for them to be completely confident that they ARE getting the best for their children. We don't want them to have the anxiety and fear that they are being let down by a national system that's almost at breaking point.
"To this end we will be lobbying the new government for reform and additional funding to help address the challenges we face."