Changes to SEND Tribunal appeals Following on from our news story in October 2017 when the Minister of State for Children and Families, Robert Goodwill, announced the expansion of powers of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, we are...
If your child has special educational needs (SEN), then 15 February has significant meaning – this is the date by when the local authority (LA) must issue a new Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or Statement of SEN for children who are moving on...
Full transition to EHCPs to be completed by 31 March 2018
Local Authorities are under a statutory duty to transfer all children and young adults with Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) who are eligible for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to the new SEND system by 31 March 2018. The transition process should involve detailed assessments (in most cases), a meeting with parents, professionals and the Local Authority (LA) and drafting a new Plan. The process should take no more than 20 weeks. We are now 10 weeks away from the deadline – are LAs nearly there yet?
We are approaching the end of the academic year. This is normally a busy time for education lawyers, particularly those of us who specialise in special educational needs. This year, however, has been the most hectic I have experienced in nearly 10 years...
Since the beginning of February 2016, we have been chasing the Department for Education for details of the costs of the special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms. On Friday 18 March we received the answer. The total figure is staggering. ...
On 29 January 2016 the DfE announced that it would be putting more money into the special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms. The additional funding is £80 million. The funding breaks down as follows: £35.87 million to local...
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...
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 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) have commissioned a review and report on how the ‘new’ law of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is being advanced by local authorities. A series of reports have been published, the most...