‘Our children deserve better’: parents win right to judicial review of special needs spending
I am conflicted by this story. At the nub of my concern is not that parents shouldn’t have as much support as we can afford its just that local authorities can’t afford to provide the support and it is having a major knock on effect on already filleted services in other parts of councils. The article tells us:
In Nico’s case, East Sussex county council now covers only half of the cost of the support he needs; his school has to pay for the remainder or disrupt his education. “Rather than funding his care according to his education, health and care plan, the local authority is funding his care according to their own matrix, saying that’s the maximum funding you can get for that type of disability,” said Heugh.
She is a member of SEND Action, a national network of families committed to upholding their legal rights. “I am able to fight for my son but there are many parents who are not able to. Their children are not receiving the correct level of provision at school, or are being excluded altogether and losing their education. It’s frustrating, because children with SEND are capable of achieving so much with the right kind of support. I know my son is.”
In December the education watchdog Ofsted said education provision for children with SEND was “disjointed” and “inconsistent”, and that in 2018 more than 2,000 of the most needy pupils missed out on the support to which they were entitled – a number that has tripled since 2010.
The school leaders’ union NAHT has reported that only 2% of headteachers feel they receive sufficient funding for pupils with SEND.
Irwin Mitchell will argue that the government has been acting unlawfully since the 2014 Children and Families Act extended special education needs provision from 18 to 25 years, increasing the numbers entitled to funding. “We couldn’t find any evidence that the funding had increased,” said solicitor Anne-Marie Irwin. “Public bodies are required to act in a rational manner. It’s irrational to include in the act a whole raft of new [people] who need support, and not allocate money to fund that.”
A report last December by the Local Government Association showed that demand for services for children and young people with SEND rose by 35% between 2014 and 2018, and that this academic year, 93 local authorities expect their spending on children with high needs will be underfunded to the tune of £287m. Increased post-16 responsibility was the single most commonly cited factor contributing to the growth in high needs spending by local authorities.