The government has passed legislation to come in force on 1 February 2016 – The Special Educational Needs and Disability (First-tier Tribunal Recommendation Power)(Pilot)(Amendment) Regulations 2016 that will come into force on 1 February...
At a time when special educational need provision is moving away from Statement of Special Educational Needs (SSEN) to Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) , you could be forgiven for thinking that SSENs were understood. Unfortunately,...
This is the second of a two-part post. Yesterday’s post explained what a personal budget is, how parents/young person (YP) can request one, personal budgets for Health and Social Care, challenging the local authority’s (LA’s) decision and...
We get enquiries about personal budgets time and time again. Whilst the right for parents and young people (YP) to request a personal budget has been in force now for over a year, it is apparent that very few people who want one have actually managed to...
There is still quite a lot of confusion about how therapeutic provision should be provided to a child or young person who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) . Yesterday, 6 January 2016, we received a letter from a local authority which...
Following three years of consultation and pilots, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal panels are going to be changed. With immediate effect, all appeals will automatically be allocated a two member panel. In January 2013 the...
Ofsted published its annual report on 1 December 2015. The report follows over 5000 inspections of schools, colleges and further education placements. In addition to the north/south divide (the gap between the performance of secondary schools in the...
We have recently written an article for the periodical, Education Law Monitor. Within our article, we explored the developments of the special educational needs system over the last year and what we hope to see in the next year. Special Educational...
“Speakers at the Westminster Education Forum touched upon an issue that I believe needs to be discussed and understood more fully. Changes to the special educational needs (SEN) regime brought about by the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA)...
The case of R (C) v Westminster City Council (2015) has just been reported. Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate the case on free databases and, as yet, have not received the full citation. The case concerns a judicial review of a...
The DfE has released an updated report on the destinations of pupils leaving Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. The data can be found here . These figures relate to the academic year 2013/2014. As such, they are an assessment of the outcomes for children...
“Very clear and all very well presented. Thank you” “Excellent presentation – pace, style and content” “Always a very informative presentation; useful now we’re a year on” “Practical,...
The Department for Education (DfE) has released its latest Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) newsletter. It focuses heavily on the failings of the Local Offer , but is quiet on a number of other issues. The newsletter...
We received a letter recently which describes another blanket policy being operated by at least one local authority (LA). The letter is from an LA to the parent of a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The...
In February this year we wrote about cuts to local authority budgets and the consequences for children’s services. You can read the story here . With cuts to budgets from central government it is no surprise that cuts to local authority...
We ran a training session on 16 September 2015 at Scope’s head office in London, reviewing the changes for children with special educational needs (SEN) a year after the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA) came into force. The training was...
September is childhood cancer awareness month. As one Twitter entry put it, “We often do recover and grow up, but treatment has short and long term side effects. We need better options” ( @vickyyyf ) Of course, parents and children are likely...
The Children and Families Act (CFA) came into effect a year ago, on 1 September 2014. At that time, we felt hopeful that we were on the brink of a significant cultural shift. We questioned whether the transition would be smooth, whether there would be much...
On 13 July Edward Timpson, Minister of State for Children and Families, wrote to Directors and Lead Members of Children’s Services for all local authorities in England. That letter is here . At the time we considered what conclusions...
The Upper Tribunal has provided guidance on how the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal should approach expert evidence when there is conflicting advice. The guidance for how expert evidence should be considered by the Special...
We previously wrote about the Department for Education (DfE) changing the timeframe for local authorities to transition children from Statement of Special Educational Needs to Education Health and Care Plan . Our previous article...
The Department for Education (DfE) has released two substantive reports assessing the impact of the special educational needs and disability reforms. The special educational needs and disability reforms took effect in September 2014. Before this, in...
This week the Department for Education (DfE) has released two batches of interesting data about special educational needs. These two sets of data reveal very significant changes in education, schools and, most dramatically, in special educational needs. ...
In this final article in our series about the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal we explain what can be done if you are unhappy about a decision taken by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND or...
In this second article in our series about the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (also known as the SEND or SENDIST ) we look at what happens once you have sent your appeal form to the Tribunal. Once you have sent...
In this first of three articles about the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal , we look at what the Tribunal is, what it can deal with and relevant time limits. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal ( SEND or SENDIST )...
The Department for Education (DfE) has released an open letter sent to all local authorities. This letter suggests that transition from Statement to Education, Health and Care Plan is causing serious concern within central government. Edward Timpson MP,...
The Children and Families Act 2014 came into force in September 2014. It completely changed how children with special educational needs (SEN) are now supported. Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) are available for children with the...
Laxmi Patel, head of Boyes Turner’s special educational needs (SEN) team, has recently written an article for SEN Magazine about the different school options for children with SEN. “ The pace and scope of change have, understandably, left...
The Children and Families Act 2014 came into force in September 2014. That law introduced a new system for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It was also intended to introduce a more...
On Thursday 4 June SEN Solicitors attended Kidz South Exhibition. During the day we met with a number of NHS experts, independent experts, case managers and parents. We discussed experiences of special educational needs reforms, common issues and...
Head of SEN Solicitor team at Boyes Turner Laxmi Patel has written a parent’s guide to the Special Educational Needs reforms which appears in this month’s Families West magazine which you can read here . The article focuses...
The BBC has recently reported that families face a postcode lottery when it comes to securing help for children with special educational needs. The BBC’s report focused on the varying responses from local authorities when parents sought...
The Inclusion Manager at Reading Borough Council, Chris Stevens, has set out that too many children with special educational needs (SEN) in Reading are facing exclusion or are missing education. This follows the announcement that West Berkshire...
Laxmi Patel, head of Boyes Turner’s Special Educational Needs team, has recently written an article for Afasic news. Her article discussed the changes made to the way children with special educational needs (SEN) are supported. The article...
I was fortunate to be shown around a very special school last week, Ingfield Manor School, and its school for parents, The Dame Vera Lynn Trust School for Parents, in Billingshurst, West Sussex. Ingfield Manor is a non-maintained special school run by the...
We wrote recently about Devon County Council making use of a “ My Plan” as a form of support for children with special educational needs (SEN). In summary, we expressed a view that the “M y Plan” could be a...
The Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) can only come to an end when either or both of the following apply: It is no longer necessary. The local authority is no longer responsible for your child or young person (CYP). ...
Parents are increasingly concerned about the new system of mediation that has been introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014. The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that before a parent, or young person, appeals to the ...
We have been presented with yet another example of local authorities operating unlawful policies in respect of children with special educational needs (SEN) . This morning we posted on Twitter about Global Developmental Delay (GDD) in support of GDD...
The purpose of the annual review process is to consider the special educational needs (SEN) support that has been in place for the last 12 months and to determine whether any adjustments to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are necessary. ...
Over the past few weeks, a number of parents have asked whether a school can refuse to be named on an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) . EHCPs were introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014 , which substantially changed the law...
We have been contacted by a number of parents who are unhappy with the school named in their child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). As the ‘old’ regime of Statement of Special Educational Needs (SSEN) is replaced with EHCPs this...
Several teachers’ unions had their annual conferences last week. You may have seen the headlines about teachers backing strike action against funding cuts in education. This comes at a time when local authorities are bedding in...
As it is World Autism Awareness Day, part of World Autism Awareness Week (WAAW) , it is a good opportunity to consider whether children with autism will benefit from the special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms that...
Today the decision of Re: D (A Child ; deprivation of liberty) has been published. This case is relevant for all children under 16 in residential school placements. Background f The child (D) in this case has complex special...
In January, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) issued a report detailing the types and outcomes of appeals handled by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal . The report can be found here . There has been a steady yearly increase in...
This week is World Autism Awareness Week (WAAW). The National Autistic Society has suggested a host of activities for the week and ways to get involved . This week we will be looking at autism as a special educational need, the various forms...
Yesterday, 26 March 2015, we attended Jordan’s annual Special Educational Needs Law and Practice conference. This conference is always well attended by professionals from local authorities and law firms. Obviously, the main discussion point was the...
Today, 26 March, is the International Epilepsy Awareness day. To mark the day, Epilepsy Action has organised a Purple Day to encourage awareness and understanding of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a brain condition which causes repeated seizures or...
