Another key victory on the Education Bill!

As part of our work with Special Educational Consortium (SEC), the NAS has successfully persuaded the Government to revise an amendment to the Education Bill relating to direct payments. Initially, we were worried that the amendment would mean that if families accepted a direct payment, the local authority would no longer be obliged to follow their statutory duties and provide the services outlined in the child’s statement.

The NAS and SEC had strong objections to this, and we put pressure on the Department for Education to address our concerns. Thanks to our campaigning, revisions to the amendment mean that local authorities will not be allowed to neglect their statutory duties. The revisions also mean that families will have to give their written consent before they begin receiving direct payments – this is intended to make sure that people are made aware of their right to a full range of support.

This is a major improvement in the progress of the Bill, as it helps to ensure that children with SEN get the full range of support that they’re entitled to instead of their families being left with a direct payment only.

Major victory on Education Bill!

Following pressure from the National Autistic Society and other charities, the Government has backed down on removing the requirement for schools to co-operate with other services to make sure children’s needs are prioritised.

As the Bill goes through Parliament, The National Autistic Society has been working hard with colleagues in the Special Educational Consortium.  As a result of our efforts, the Government has tabled an amendment to the Bill which will remove the clause we were particularly concerned about.

This means schools will have to work with other services in their area and co-operate to improve children’s wellbeing locally.

This latest victory builds on a history of successes for the Special Education Consortium, of which the NAS is a leading member.  These include making sure legal aid continues to be available for SEN cases, ensuring the legal SEN rights apply to academies and free schools, and extending funding for specialist SEN support services.

Campaigning successes on exclusions

The National Autistic Society (NAS), along with other members of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC), has been campaigning on the proposed reforms set out in the Education Bill.

We had particular concerns about proposals in the Bill in relation to exclusions. The Bill proposes replacing Independent Appeals Panels (IAPs) who currently review decisions on exclusions with new Review Panels.

Unlike IAPs, the Review Panels will not have the power to reinstate students who have been excluded if they feel that they were wrongfully so. We were also concerned about the knowledge and understanding of autism and other Special Educational Needs (SEN) among members of the Review Panels.

These reforms apply to England only.

Following campaigning from the NAS and the SEC, the Government has made the following commitments on exclusion:

• The SEN Tribunal will hear disability discrimination cases where a child has been permanently excluded and re-instatement will be a possible remedy in these cases;
• Revised statutory guidance on exclusions will explicitly state the need for Governors to take special educational needs into account when reviewing the decision to exclude;
• Parents will be able to request that an SEN expert attend the review panel; and
• Using risk of exclusion as a trigger for a multi-agency assessment of need will be included in guidance

The NAS has continuing concerns on the specifics of these commitments. For instance, who will be the SEN expert that sits on a Review Panel? We also remain concerned about who the statutory guidance will apply to and how it will be monitored and enforced.

Let us know what you think of the changes in the box below.

MPs highlight impact of Education Bill on children with autism

Yesterday, the Education Bill was debated for the first time in Parliament. The Bill will implement some sections of the education white paper, published in December.

We briefed MPs on the Bill, before it was debated and as a result, the impact of the Bill on children with autism was raised a number of times during the debate.

Exclusions

In particular, we had expressed concerns about the replacement of Independent Appeal Panels for exclusions with Review Panels, which would not have the power to reinstate children who had been permanently excluded.

A number of MPs highlighted the disproportionate number of children with autism who have been excluded. Conservative MP Richard Fuller said that the high number of exclusions of children with autism needed more attention.

Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said, “Parents of children with disabilities and special needs already face a battle to get them a good education. With changes to admissions and exclusions, which will see schools become judge and jury, the Bill stacks the odds against those children even further”.

Education Minister Nick Gibb responded that parents would still have the right of appeal on exclusions.

Joined-up working

The NAS are also particularly concerned that the Bill removes the duty on schools to co-operate with other local agencies.

We also oppose the Government’s earlier decision to remove the duty on local authorities to develop a Children and Young People’s Plan.

Liberal Democrat MP Annette Brooke stressed the importance of these plans and of joined up working between education, health and social care, particularly for those with complex needs, such as autism.

We look forward to the imminent publication of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Green Paper to determine further how the Government intends its educational reforms to impact on children with SEN.