VULNERABLE children in Oxfordshire could be missing out on school lessons during the lockdown due to a lack of home broadband, according to a report.

The Children’s Commissioner for England has profiled the nation’s local authorities and how the lockdown is affecting children in these areas living in poverty, who have parents with a history of substance abuse, and who have special educational needs.

In Oxfordshire, the report found that more than the average number of children do not have home broadband.

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The county also has a higher than average number of children living in homes where parents have a history of drug or alcohol abuse.

In the report, Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, said the coronavirus lockdown ‘brings into sharp focus both the dangers of vulnerable children falling through gaps in services and policy’.

In Oxfordshire, the commissioner's report estimated there were 172 children living in homes without broadband of at least 2megabits per second, effectively leaving them without access to the internet.

This meant the county ranked on the 72nd percentile, or nearly the worst quarter of English authorities for children without home broadband.

Due to the lockdown, many schools have been sending their pupils homework by email or conducting lessons through video link apps.

Oxfordshire also has an estimated 6,100 children living in homes where parents had a history of substance abuse, with the country in the top quarter of local authority areas for this issue.

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The data in the report also said there was a high number of children who had special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) without the proper help for their condition.

Children with SEND are able to have a legal document drafted for them called an Education and Health Care Plan.

An estimated 15,079 children in the county did not have an EHC plan.

This problem was discussed by the county council's performance scrutiny committee in March before the lockdown began.

The committee was told council staff were working hard to meet a 20-week target to draft EHC plans and had made it a priority.

Meanwhile, Oxfordshire ranked well in the support for the number of children living in poverty, and for those living in homes where parents had mental health problems.

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman said: "Oxfordshire County Council has a range of services to support the most vulnerable children and families in our community, recently graded ‘good’ by Ofsted.

“We are working closely with our partner organisations, including schools, to provide help to any vulnerable families during the coronavirus situation."

The Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran, is also the party's education spokeswoman.

She said the well-being of vulnerable children and their families during the lockdown 'must be paramount' and called on the government to form an Emergency Vulnerable Children Taskforce.

Ms Moran added: "Liberal Democrats have called on Ministers to convene an Emergency Vulnerable Children Taskforce, including headteachers, police, NHS and social services to ensure best practice is being shared. We must have an absolute assurance that in these trying circumstances safeguarding our most vulnerable children remains a top priority."