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Education Law
The Autism Act 2009 was designed to bring about changes in the way adults with autism were treated by local authorities and NHS organisations. It is the only condition-specific legislation of its type in England and although references adults, has been...
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal This Tribunal hears appeals about EHC needs assessments and EHC Plans as well as claims of disability discrimination. The number of appeals is on the rise; between 2018 and 2019 the Tribunal has seen...
A report published this week by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in response to a complaint against Cornwall Council, highlights three key areas that we find are repeated failings throughout the country. The Ombudsman identified that...
The Guardian has published an article in relation to ‘special needs pupils being failed by system on verge of crisis’. Their investigation has shown that the current rate of success for parents at SEN Tribunal hearings is now at 89%. It is...
The Tribunal Service has launched new guidance for Tribunal bundles in SEN appeals which could have key ramifications when providing independent reports as evidence. Whereas it is often the case that these reports are highly detailed and therefore lengthy,...
The Government has been seeking views and evidence on school exclusion practice as part of a review of school exclusions. In 2015/16, 0.08% of children were permanently excluded from Local Authority maintained schools in England, although children...
We receive a number of phone calls from parents who want to know if they can access their child’s school records. The answer is generally, yes. If your child attends a maintained school, you have an independent right of access to your...
Speaking to MP’s on the Commons Education Select Committee, Baroness Warnock, who issued a report 40 years ago about services for children with special educational needs and disabilities needing to change, along with other key figures that led to the...
Following on from previous articles, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have continued to carry out joint inspections to consider how Local Authorities have implemented the changes set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to the...
A recent decision from the Upper Tribunal, GK v North Somerset Council (2018) has upheld a parent’s appeal in respect of when a Local Authority is required to provide special educational provision outside of school term times. The child in question...
Two sets of parents have recently taken Bristol City Council to court for a judicial review of the council’s continuing cuts to funding for pupils with SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities). The first case of its kind, the basis of the...
News in the last few days has focused on statistics that demonstrate there is a shortage of funding for children with special educational needs, which is leading to a growing number of children being left without suitable school places and more children with...
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND) will soon be able to make non-binding recommendations on the health and social care aspects of a child or young person’s EHC Plans, alongside the educational needs and provision currently...
Managing Partner, Beverley Watkins, was recently asked to provide comment on the Ministry of Justice's Legal Advice Gateway for an article in the Law Society Gazette. The Legal Advice Gateway is a telephone service which provides advice on...
In 2013 under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the government decided to fund advice and assistance on special educational needs and discrimination work only through a telephone advice service. There are currently two providers of this service to cover England and Wales. However, a decision has been issued this week that the government will cancel the telephone advice service and will not be awarding any contracts for education and discrimination services after 1 September 2018 through the current process...
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have conducted a joint inspection of Lancashire Local Authority to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing special educational needs and disability reforms, as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. ...
A joint inspection of South Gloucestershire Council’s SEN and Disabilities provisions carried out by both Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recently published its findings highlighting areas both of strength and need in the Local...
For those children who are transferring into a new stage of education from September 2018, parents should receive the final EHC plan naming the placement for September 2018 by 15 February 2018...
The BBC has recently been featuring a number of articles relating to children with special educational needs. It has focused on TV presenters David and Carrie Grant, who have four children, each with a separate set of special educational needs. ...
