with Jane Harris, SEND parent and CEO of Speech and Language UK
SNJ Intro:
Last week we were dismayed and angry at the publication of a local-government-funded report into SEND, which claimed disabled children were an “existential threat” to councils. It recommended junking the SEND Tribunal and along with it, disabled children’s rights and accountability in an area where accountability is already thin on the ground. Whatever good ideas may have been in the report have, for us, been completely overshadowed, as public law barrister, Steve Broach KC said:
We were even more appalled at the uncritical reporting in some of the press, especially the Guardian whose reporter had clearly just read the report’s press release and really should know better. But most of all, we were very depressed over the lacklustre response from some organisations that purport to support disabled children and are funded royally by the government to do so. All our team spent the weekend feeling dejected and sick to our stomachs.
However, there were some charities that support disabled children who spoke out strongly, notably Imogen Steele at Contact. Jane Harris, the CEO of another charity, Speech and Language UK, has penned a guest article about their reaction to the report.
Removing the SEND Tribunal, where most parents prevail, would cause more suffering: by Jane Harris Speech and Language UK
Imagine a world where schools and nurseries consistently spotted which children had special educational needs early. And staff knew how to support them. And specialists were available to give extra help.
This all sounds like a faraway dream for most parents of children with special educational needs. Despite the huge efforts of many people working in the system, families too often have to spend years trying to figure out what support their children need by themselves and trying to get someone – anyone – to recognise and help. They would switch their experiences for this utopia any day.
Many sensible steps to get towards this hallowed place are to be found in the Local Government Association (LGA) and ISOS report released last week. Mandatory annual training for all teachers in special educational needs? Yes please. A curriculum that more children can engage with? Sign us up! Special schools able to offer support to mainstream schools to skill them up? When can they start?
Devil in the detail
But hidden in the report is one recommendation which is going to make terrified and vulnerable families feel even more powerless and even more fearful for their children’s futures. The report also recommends taking away families’ legal right to get extra support for their children and to challenge local councils when they don’t provide children with the extra support they need.
Despite working in SEND-related roles for almost a decade, as well as now being a SEND parent myself, I’ve yet to meet a family that’s enjoyed the process of getting a local council to agree to the support their child needs (via an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment – EHCNA) or challenging a local council to provide more services (via a Tribunal application). It is clear to me that by the time they start either of these processes, families are usually utterly exhausted by the total lack of support they’ve been getting while waiting for their mainstream school to try in-class support for at least a year.
Meanwhile, their children are suffering at school, if they are going at all. One parent may have given up their job because of the amount of additional caring they’re having to do for their child. On top of all these pressures, they take on this bureaucratic and months- or years-long process, simply because no other route is getting their child the support they desperately need. And they are usually right – in 98.3% of Tribunal cases, judges find in the families’ favour.
More tribunals, for good reason
It is true that more and more families are using these legal processes and the report sets out some reasons why that is happening: a genuine increase in need, national policy pushing mainstream schools away from inclusive practice, a lack of early intervention and a lack of training for teaching staff on special needs. In other words, more children need extra support, and the system isn’t set up to provide it.
These legal rights are the only way families can flag that existing support isn’t working and force councils to put things right. Let’s remember that if local councils don’t put in the right support, children, their families, and our economy and society all suffer. For example, without the right support, children with speech and language challenges are six to 11 times more likely to be behind at school, twice as likely to be unemployed as young adults, make up almost half of mental health service referrals, and two-thirds of the young offender population. Families are doing us all a huge favour by shouting when things aren’t working, giving councils and schools an opportunity to do the right thing.
“Imagine if we had a criminal justice system where 97% of appeals were upheld? Would anyone then think it was sensible to take away the right to appeal? Would that really fix the system, or would it just cover up miscarriages of justice and cause more suffering?”
Jane Harris, Speech and Language UK
It’s in the new government’s hands
Families will support and cheer on a Government that gets their children support quickly and early so they never have to turn to this kind of legal process. So they never have to spend precious hours filling in forms or spending many thousands of pounds on legal fees. But they cannot and never will support taking away a final safeguard in a system that is so broken.
Imagine if we had a criminal justice system where 97% of appeals were upheld? Would anyone then think it was sensible to take away the right to appeal? Would that really fix the system, or would it just cover up miscarriages of justice and cause more suffering?
We haven’t yet heard a full Government response to this report. Let’s hope that they are on the side of children and families and spend their time and effort on fixing services and getting support early to children, not on taking away the only safeguards that these children have.
Jane Harris, Chief Executive, Speech and Language UK
Also read:
- SEND is an existential threat to LAs’ financial sustainability; junking the SEND Tribunal is part of the answer, claims new report
- Does the SEND Safety Valve scheme have a future under the Labour Government? And if so, who’s next?
- SEND Tribunal 2023: When will councils stop wasting public funds defending SEND appeals when they fail almost all the time?
- Parents of disabled children traumatised by the public bodies that should be supporting them
- Private companies running SEND schools have immunity from the law – one family is pushing for change
- SEND Funding Fact Check 3: Where the money’s gone, why it isn’t helping, and why more children need support
- How will the government-funded RISE partnership improve local areas’ SEND provision?
- “Every learner matters and matters equally”. But in England’s education system, do they really?
- 83% educators say SEND learners aren’t effectively supported to achieve, says 2024 Pearson school report
- Uncovering the hidden truth about SEND safety valve agreements and how they’ll cut children’s SEND provision
Don’t miss a thing!
Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.
You can also keep up with us by following our
Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!
SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals - September 3, 2026
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children - August 28, 2026
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people - August 25, 2026
Please share this article!
Discover more from Special Needs Jungle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
