“Co-production is the golden thread that weaves through everything we do,” trumpet council presentations about changing SEND for the better. But it’s evident that the golden thread is is something …
SNJ’s Matt Keer was the first to bring the last government’s Safety Valve scheme to light, and we have continued to highlight the issues with it. Today, Matt deconstructs a …
With Bristol parent carer, Jen Smith, In our SEND Inquiry response, one of the (many) recommendations we have made is for the Department for Education’s controversial SEND Safety Valve scheme …
SNJ first highlighted the SEND Safety Valve programme back in 2021. This Department for Education (DfE) scheme, essentially “blackmails” debt-ridden local authorities (LAs) into cutting services for disabled children in …
Deep in the deserts of Turkmenistan, there’s a toxic fire that’s been burning for decades. It’s known locally as the Door to Hell. Inadvertently started by unaccountable government apparatchiks, exacerbated …
Yesterday, the Department for Education announced two things about funding for special educational needs and disability (SEND) in England: The government also announced the appointment of a chairperson, Professor Karen …
by Rachel Filmer, Matt Keer and Tania Tirraoro Today, we’re looking at a surprisingly frank report from Surrey about their SEND that’s relevant wherever you live, but first, if you …
Last week, the National Audit Office (NAO) issued a damning report on the state of SEND in England. On the same day, the Department for Education also issued a report …
by Catriona Moore and Matt Keer Another day, another report detailing failings in the system that’s supposed to support children and young people with SEND. Today it’s the National Audit …
There have been three debates about SEND in parliament already this session, one about SEND in Somerset, one on Herts and Central Bedfordshire and yesterday, one on SEND provision in …
The new government has plenty in its in-tray. That in-tray includes SEND (below), and one of the things at the top of the teetering SEND pile will be funding. Most …
The new ministerial team at the DfE is shaping up, and the new minister responsible for SEND is Catherine McKinnell who has been named as schools minister – this means …
Anything that calls itself the “safety valve intervention programme” is going to struggle to excite public interest. Perhaps that was the intention: create a bureaucratic-sounding programme in an obscure corner …
Imagine you’re a builder, called to quote on a crumbling, damp-ridden house. You do an in-depth assessment of the issues and calculate the costs of this enormous task, all the …
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have been inspecting local area SEND services since 2016. At the start of 2023, they introduced a new framework that changed the way …
with additional reporting from Matt Keer Over the next few months, we’ll be marking 10 years since the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA) received Royal Assent. We’ll be looking …
by Adam Sofianos, SEND parent campaigner We’ve written a lot about the Government’s Safety Valve and Delivering Better Value programmes, designed to “help” local authorities out of the deep financial …
This is the third in our series of posts looking at the complex and toxic tyre fire that is SEND funding. Some is wasted fighting parents and SEND consultants It’s …
The new SEND Minister, David Johnston, has denied the Government is working towards cuts of 20% in EHCPs for local authorities on its “Delivering Better Value” (DBV) programme, as we …
It’s a strange time out there, and it’s a strange time in the world of SEND too. Some sort of big change is on its way in England — via …
