A report by a committee of MPs welcomed the overall direction of the coalition government's proposed legislation to reform provision for children with special educational needs. But it warned that the National Health Service constitution could not be allowed to prevent the imposition of much stronger duties on commissioning boards to ensure that adequate, joined-up services were put in place across the country.
Source: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny: Special Educational Needs, Sixth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 631, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Oral and written evidence | Action for Children press release | EDCM press release | Mencap press release | RNIB press release | Scope press release | Nursery World report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Dec
The coalition government published the final report into events at the privately run Winterbourne View Hospital, where patients with learning disabilities had been subjected by staff to repeated physical and mental abuse (resulting in criminal convictions and the closure of the hospital). It set out a programme of action designed to implement the lessons learned. There would be a drive to increase community services at the expense of hospital settings, particularly those operated by the profit-making sector.
Source: Transforming Care: A national response to Winterbourne View Hospital, Department of Health
Links: Report | Hansard | BILD press release | FPLD press release | NHS Confederation press release | RCN press release | TLAP press release | Turning Point press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report made a series of recommendations designed to ensure that missing people with intellectual disabilities, together with their families and carers, received the best possible service from professional organizations concerned with their welfare.
Source: Richard Rickford, People with Intellectual Disabilities Going Missing, Missing People
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Nov
A report was published in which people with learning disabilities gave their opinions on the coalition government's plans for social care, and discussed how their lives would be affected by the proposals. Although service users and their relatives felt that some of the proposed reforms would make a really positive difference, almost all were concerned about existing levels of funding for care; what was going to happen to their benefits; and how their support would be affected as a result.
Source: Our Future: People with learning disabilities speak out on government plans for social care, United Response
Links: Report | United Response press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper compared the organization of inclusive and special education systems in the Flemish community of Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, and England.
Source: Leen Sebrechts, Education for Children with Special Needs: A comparative study of education systems and parental guidance services, Working Paper 12/11, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
An article drew on research in Scotland to examine the growing gap between the spheres of paid employment and social care for people with learning disabilities. Narrow and outcome-focused employability and supported employment programmes increasingly selected only the most able; and social care was ever more restricted to those in most need – with the result that an expanding number of people with learning disabilities were occupying an in-between sphere where the opportunities for work or care were limited. 'Local area co-ordinators' in Scotland – providing personal support and 'brokerage' to facilitate access to employment and other 'work' experiences – could potentially bridge the gap.
Source: Edward Hall and Sarah McGarrol, 'Bridging the gap between employment and social care for people with learning disabilities: local area co-ordination and in-between spaces of social inclusion', Geoforum, Volume 43 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined the translation of policy in practice for people with learning disabilities at all life stages.
Source: Valerie Williams, Learning Disability Policy and Practice: Changing Lives?, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the challenges of providing healthcare in England to men and women with learning disabilities.
Source: Marcus Redley, Carys Banks, Karen Foody, and Anthony Holland, 'Healthcare for men and women with learning disabilities: understanding inequalities in access', Disability & Society, Volume 27 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A report for the children's rights watchdog in Northern Ireland said that young people with learning disabilities faced a flawed system when moving from children's services to adult services, characterized by inconsistencies, weaknesses, and gaps.
Source: Laura Lundy, Bronagh Byrne, and Paschal McKeown, Review of Transitions to Adult Services for Young People with Learning Disabilities, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People
Links: Report | NICCY press release
Date: 2012-Sep
The coalition government published draft legislation for the reform of provision for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). It provided for:
• A new duty for joint commissioning that would require local authorities and health bodies to take joint responsibility for providing services.
• A requirement on local authorities to publish a local offer of services for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs.
• New protections for young people aged 16-25 in further education and a stronger focus on preparing them for adulthood.
• Parents and young people, for the first time, to be entitled to have a personal budget, extending their choice and control over their support.
• Further education colleges for the first time and all academies, including free schools, to have the same duties as maintained schools to safeguard the education of children and young people with SEN.
Source: Draft Legislation on Reform of Provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs, Cm 8438, Department for Education, TSO
Links: Draft legislation | Hansard | EDCM press release | Mencap press release | Nasen press release | RNIB press release | Scope press release | Sense press release
Date: 2012-Sep
The report was published of an independent investigation into abuses at a care home for people with learning disabilities and autism. It said that the abuse had resulted from 'serious and sustained failings' in the management procedures of the private company that owned and operated the home. It also concluded that other organizations' systems and procedures 'fell short in commissioning patient care, and in reviewing and safeguarding the well-being of patients before and during their stay'. The inspectorate for healthcare and social care published the results of an internal management review into its own role in the case. It said that it had already made 'significant changes' to its systems and processes to ensure that it was better placed to respond to concerns of whistleblowers in similar situations.
Source: Margaret Flynn, Winterbourne View Hospital: A Serious Case Review, South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board | Alan Rosenbach, Internal Management Review of the Regulation of Winterbourne View, Care Quality Commission
Links: Report | Summary | CQC report | CQC press release | ADASS press release | Disability Rights UK press release | Labour Party press release | United Response press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Aug
A report said that the care system was failing people with a learning disability and behaviour that challenged. The government needed an action plan, including:
• A closure programme of all large assessment and treatment units to be completed in three years, combined with the integration of smaller units with local services.
• Commissioners to develop local services, including community-based intensive support services.
• An urgent review to ensure that funding arrangements did not work against the incentive to get people out of assessment and treatment units, and 'economies of scale' did not force the continued development of larger units.
• A strengthening of the law on adult safeguarding to ensure rigorous action against abusers and responsible organizations.
Source: Out of Sight: Stopping the neglect and abuse of people with a learning disability, Mencap/Challenging Behaviour Foundation
Links: Report | Mencap press release
Date: 2012-Aug
An independent report said that, despite commitments by European Union member states to promote inclusive education, children with special educational needs and disabled adults were still getting a 'raw deal'. Many were placed in segregated institutions, and those in mainstream educational settings often received inadequate support. The report called on member states to work harder to develop inclusive education systems, and to remove the barriers faced by vulnerable groups when it came to participation and success in education, training, and employment.
Source: Sheila Riddell, Education and Disability/Special Needs: Policies and practices in education, training and employment for students with disabilities and special educational needs in the EU, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2012-Jul
Two linked reports said that discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental health problems persisted in Europe despite the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the European Union and 21 member states. They highlighted the need to move from institutional to community-based living arrangements, and to reformulate laws and policies to make them more inclusive.
Source: Involuntary Placement and Involuntary Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Problems, Fundamental Rights Agency (European Commission) | Choice and Control: The right to independent living – Experiences of persons with intellectual disabilities and persons with mental health problems in nine EU member states, Fundamental Rights Agency (European Commission)
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | FRA press release
Date: 2012-Jun
The inspectorate for healthcare and social care in England said that there was a 'one in two' chance of people with learning disabilities being in a service that did not meet the required standards. The findings were revealed in a national report that analyzed the results of 145 unannounced inspections carried out in the wake of abuse at Winterbourne View Hospital (a private hospital) uncovered by the BBC 'Panorama' programme. Private learning disability hospitals did far worse than National Health Service counterparts in meeting care standards, including in areas such as tackling abuse and using restraint. The government simultaneously published an interim report on its review of Winterbourne View, and a wider investigation into how the health and care system supported vulnerable people with learning disabilities.
Source: Learning Disability Services Inspection Programme: National Overview, Care Quality Commission | Department of Health Review: Winterbourne View Hospital – Interim Report, Department of Health
Links: Report | Independent evaluation | CQC press release | Winterbourne report | Hansard | ADASS press release | ARC press release | Mencap press release | NDTI press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article said that mass education systems were underpinned by an expanded and expensive 'SEN industry'. Governments had acquiesced in the development of this industry, conceding its importance in dealing with groups who might be increasingly surplus to labour requirements in 'knowledge economies' and also in need of social control measures. It was unlikely that special education would disappear despite commitments to inclusive education. Middle-class and aspirant parents increasingly claimed SEN classification, funding, and resourcing for children who were unlikely to achieve in competitive market-driven school systems. Other factors included the continuing needs of teachers encouraged or coerced to 'raise standards' to be free of troublesome and disruptive pupils, and the needs of an expanding number of professionals and practitioners to expand their clientele.
Source: Sally Tomlinson, 'The irresistible rise of the SEN industry', Oxford Review of Education, Volume 38 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A report examined how the families of people with learning disabilities were – or more commonly were not – becoming truly involved in, and benefiting from, the personalization process in social care.
Source: Families and Personalisation Project Better Lives : Key learning outcomes summary for families, local authorities & support providers, National Development Team for Inclusion
Links: Report | Briefing | Summary
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the experiences of a small sample of women with learning disabilities, all of whom had experienced domestic abuse from intimate partners. Although the women had sought help from services to leave their abusive partners, it had either been denied or been inappropriate to their needs. Helpful service provision included advocacy, a domestic abuse therapy programme, and an empowerment group informed by feminist perspectives.
Source: Alison Walter-Brice, Rachel Cox, Helena Priest, and Fiona Thompson, 'What do women with learning disabilities say about their experiences of domestic abuse within the context of their intimate partner relationships?', Disability & Society, Volume 27 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An annual report summarized information collected by government departments about people in England with learning disabilities. It highlighted progress on the implementation of key health and social care policies, including increases in the number of annual health checks, the receipt of local authority-funded home care, and the use of direct payments or self-directed support. But other information – for example, the very low and declining rates of employment among adults with learning disabilities -highlighted the progress that still needed to be made in order to meet the aspirations of existing policies.
Source: Eric Emerson, Chris Hatton, Janet Robertson, Hazel Roberts, Susannah Baines, Felicity Evison, and Gyles Glover, People with Learning Disabilities in England 2011, Improving Health and Lives Learning Disabilities Observatory
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government responded to consultation on its Green Paper on special educational needs and disability in England. It set out the next steps that the government would take to implement the Green Paper reforms, including through legislation. It said that the existing system was 'outdated and not fit for purpose'. Too many children were being labelled as having special needs. The system of statements, setting out the extra help that had to be provided for children with special needs, would be replaced by a single assessment process: this would result in an integrated 'education, health and care plan'. It also said that parents should be given more control over spending the budgets available to help their children.
Source: Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability – Progress and Next Steps, Department for Education
Links: Response | Hansard | DE press release | ASCL press release | ATL press release | CDC press release | CWR press release | EDCM press release | 4Children press release | FPLD press release | Labour Party press release | Mencap press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Notes: Green Paper (March 2012)
Date: 2012-May
A new book provided a critical overview of the history of inclusive education policy and practice developments.
Source: Anastasia Liasidou, Inclusive Education, Politics and Policymaking, Continuum International Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article examined recent policy developments in England and Northern Ireland relating to mental health and intellectual disability. The policies and legislation introduced to address issues such as accessing mental healthcare and service standards had still to make a significant impact on people's daily lives.
Source: Eddie Chaplin and Laurence Taggart, 'England and Northern Ireland policy and law update relating to mental health and intellectual disability', Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 6 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A report said that 1 in 4 adults with a learning disability were stuck at home due to cuts to day services across England. Nearly one-third of local authorities had closed day services in the previous three years.
Source: xy, Stuck at Home: The impact of day service cuts on people with a learning disability, Mencap
Links: Report | Mencap press release | Labour Party press release
Date: 2012-May
A report examined the ways in which young people with special educational needs accessed and engaged in alternative provision in five local authority areas.
Source: Kerry Martin and Richard White, Alternative Provision for Young People with Special Educational Needs, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2012-May
An article questioned whether a 'divisive and exclusionary' consumerist economic model should be used for services and benefits of the kind accessed by people with a range of intellectual disabilities. The unchallenged advance of 'marketization' might benefit those who were financially able: but for others the choices offered were illusory at best.
Source: Alex McClimens and Martin Hyde, 'Intellectual disability, consumerism and identity: to have and have not?', Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 16 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A study found that people with learning disabilities living independently in the community frequently experienced harassment, abuse, and related crime. The perpetrators were mainly local people and neighbours – often young people and schoolchildren. The loneliness of some people with learning disabilities – 1 in 4 interviewed said that they did not have any friends – was putting them at particular risk, leaving them with little choice but to visit hostile public spaces and spend time with exploitative and cruel people.
Source: Carwyn Gravell, Loneliness and Cruelty: People with learning disabilities and their experiences of harassment, abuse and related crime in the community, Lemos&Crane
Links: Report | L&C press release
Date: 2012-May
A survey highlighted the impact of budget restraints on the quality and availability of services for people with a learning disability. The evidence pointed to a system in crisis, and to the need for reform in order to meet the challenges of a growing population.
Source: Anthea Sully and Rachel Bowen, Social Care in Crisis: The need for reform, Learning Disability Coalition
Links: Report | United Response blog post | BBC report
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book provided an overview of key issues in the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Source: David Armstrong and Garry Squires, Contemporary Issues in Special Educational Needs: Considering the whole child, Open University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined the organization of support for people with learning disabilities in health and social care services.
Source: Eric Broussine and Kim Scarborough, Supporting People with Learning Disabilities in Health and Social Care, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that almost one-third of young people aged 18 with special educational needs were not in any form of education, employment, or training. Although central government provided funding for young people aged 16-25 it was left to local authorities in England to decide how it was spent. The system was so complex that some families lost hope of getting any help.
Source: Oversight of Special Education for Young People Aged 16-25, Seventieth Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1636, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Disability Rights UK press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Feb
A report said that there was continued institutional discrimination in the National Health Service against people with a learning disability. Although some positive steps had been taken, many health professionals were still failing to provide adequate care. The report highlighted the deaths of 74 people with a learning disability in NHS care over the previous 10 years that were a direct result of institutional discrimination and could have been avoided.
Source: Death by Indifference: 74 deaths and counting – A progress report 5 years on, Mencap
Links: Report | Summary | Mencap press release
Date: 2012-Feb
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the government was entitled to recover overpaid benefit where a claimant had failed to disclose a material fact – whether or not that disclosure was 'reasonably to be expected'. The case concerned a mother with a learning disability who had not immediately informed the Department for Work and Pensions that her children had been taken into care: it was accepted that she did not have the mental capacity to appreciate the significance or materiality of the change in her circumstances.
Source: B v The United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights
Links: Judgement
Date: 2012-Feb
Two articles examined the links between policy developments and changes in professional practice within learning disability services in England. The coalition government's policies had exacerbated the developing gap in professional inputs between children's and adult services – in particular, the decline in support for inclusion of children in mainstream education, the rapid growth of academies, and proposals for the reorganization of the National Health Service.
Source: David Race and Nigel Malin, 'The impact of social policy on changes in professional practice within learning disability services: different standards for children and adults? A two-part examination/Part 1: The policy foundations: from welfare markets to Valuing People, personalization and Baby P', Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 15 Number 4 | David Race and Nigel Malin, 'The impact of social policy on changes in professional practice within learning disability services: different standards for children and adults? A two-part examination/Part 2: Professional services under the coalition: the trends continue apace', Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 15 Number 4
Links: Abstract (1) | Abstract (2)
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined a literature review on the prevalence and determinants of health conditions and impairments among children and young people with intellectual disability. There was an increased prevalence of a number of health conditions and impairments among those concerned, and evidence that these health inequalities were associated with several preventable environmental determinants.
Source: Lindsay Allerton, Vicki Welch, and Eric Emerson, 'Health inequalities experienced by children and young people with intellectual disabilities: a review of literature from the United Kingdom', Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 15 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A report highlighted the difference that social care made to the daily lives of people with learning disabilities, drawing on the testimony of disabled people themselves and their families.
Source: Life Support: The difference between a daily existence and a fulfilling life, United Response
Links: Report | United Response press release
Date: 2012-Jan
A report presented updated estimates of the need for adult social care support among people with learning disabilities in England for the period 2009-2026.
Source: Eric Emerson and Chris Hatton, Estimating Future Need for Social Care among Adults with Learning Disabilities in England: An Update, Improving Health and Lives Learning Disabilities Observatory
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
A report provided an overview of the situation of children with intellectual disabilities in 22 European countries (including the United Kingdom), with a particular focus on their rights in 5 areas: protection against abuse, family support and (de-)institutionalization, health, education, and participation.
Source: Camille Latimier and Jan Siska, Children s Rights for All! Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for children with intellectual disabilities – A European report, Inclusion Europe
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan