“The current system has been deemed “not fit for purpose” for a number of reasons, including time scales of obtaining the requisite support for a child and the battle with local authorities regarding funding.”
“The Paper seeks to provide parents with more autonomy over the management of their child’s needs to include a “personal budget” for them to manage. The entire process that can lead to a child obtaining a statement of special educational needs will be replaced with a single assessment process that will include health and care plans for the child and will run from birth to 25, whereas a statement of special educational needs currently can cease to be maintained by a local authority after the child has turned 16.”
Chopra continued: “There has always been widespread concern amongst parents about the misdiagnosis of their child’s needs or indeed “labelling” of the child following disruptive behaviour. Schools have in the past been accused of “labelling” children too early with special educational needs when the child is simply “playing up”. The changes will seek to avoid this from happening.”
Chopra calls the changes “significant for parents and practitioners alike” since the particular area of special educational needs has not been affected by other changes made to education law for 30 years. However, she does highlight some areas for concern, stating: “There are inherent problems in the current proposals: for example if the budget is to be allocated to a parent, the parent will be the “employer” of the speech and language therapist.”
“Does this mean that parents will have to have some employment law training? How are contracts formed? What happens if something goes wrong? Will parents find themselves defending claims in the employment tribunal? Do they have to conduct formal employment interviews? The questions are numerous. It will be very interesting to see how this area develops over the next couple of years.”
