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 report of an independent review (led by Peter Doran) set out a strategy for provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs in Scotland.
Source: The Right Help at the Right Time in the Right Place: Strategic review of learning provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs, Scottish Government
Links: Review report | Scottish Government response | Scottish Government press release | Capability Scotland press release | Children in Scotland press release | Cosla press release | NASUWT 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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 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
