MPs have warned that urgent action is needed to stop a "lost generation" of children leaving school without the support they need for special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

In a highly critical report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found the Send system was "chaotic", "mired in red tape, starved of funding and unable to generate value for money".

It is estimated that 1.7 million school-age children in England have special educational needs and disabilities.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the government was investing £1 billion in Send to "make progress" on the issue.

Most boarding children require more educational support than their peers and are educated in mainstream schools.

People with further needs may have legal entitlements to more specific support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), usually at a specialist school.

The committee, which reviews public spending, reported that 576,000 children were receiving EHCP in January 2024.

One of them is Rachel Morgan's seven-year-old son Max, who has autism and ADHD.

Mum Rachel, from Birmingham, said Max missed much of school amid a "never-ending struggle" but was now "confident" at a specialist school.

Despite this, the school is 45 minutes away due to lack of specialist premises.

PAC chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said parents seeking Send support for their children were faced with a "chaotic" system.

"The seriousness of this situation cannot be overstated," he said.

"As a country, we have failed countless children. We have been doing this for years.

"This is an emergency that has been allowed to operate. This report must be the government's bottom line."

The committee's report found demand for EHCPs has soared 140 per cent over the past decade, but the government doesn't fully understand why, limiting the system's ability to cope with demand.

The report also found that many councils failed to provide EHCPs to children in need within the 20-week period required by law.

And there are huge regional differences between local authorities delivering EHCP on time, creating a "postcode lottery" for families.

Many councils are also facing huge financial deficits due to budget overruns, the report said.

It warned that 40 per cent of councils would "face bankruptcy" next year when a scheme allowing local authorities to take these deficits off their financial books expires.

The report said current "piecemeal interventions" would do nothing to improve the sustainability of the system, which urgently needs reform.

Arooj Shah, MP for the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England, called for councils' spending deficit on Send to be "written off".

One of the report's recommendations to the government is to explain how mainstream schools can be more inclusive for boarding students.

The government recently announced £740m for schools Modify their buildings to make them more accessible.

Ninestiles is a college in Birmingham with 45 boarders in the school's specialist resource centre.

They spend approximately 70% of their time in mainstream education and 30% in professional courses.

Headteacher Alex Hughes said a "truly inclusive environment" was at the heart of the school's "culture of belonging".

He said the system's focus should be on "celebrating the outstanding contribution boarding students make to their schools", but added that many families had struggled to find support for their children.

Roger Gough, the network councilor on county councils who represents England, said the latest report showed the sending system was "no longer viable".

Daniel Cobede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the committee had highlighted "the scale of the crisis in Senter".

Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell said the system had "a long history of failing families sending their children down".

She added: “These issues are deep-rooted and will take time to resolve, but we remain firmly committed to delivering the change that exhausted families desperately need by ensuring better early intervention and inclusion.”