System pressures cannot excuse poor practice or disrespect toward families and work is needed to rebuild trust between families and local services.
Responding to a recent ITV report which revealed that senior managers in a local authority were deliberately delaying access for families for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services, the Council for Disabled Children says:
"We know that local authority SEN teams are working hard in difficult situations, with insufficient resources to meet rising demand. Nevertheless, the management behaviours and the family experiences shown by ITV are never acceptable. System pressures cannot excuse poor practice or disrespect toward families.
We appreciate the intentions behind the SEND reforms and the investment to boost capacity and provide earlier support. These are positive steps for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs. However, the current proposals still do not clearly explain how oversight, accountability, and intervention will help rebuild trust between families and local services.
The government needs to strengthen its proposed framework. This should include ensuring Department for Education regional advisers are equipped and resourced to both support and challenge culture and performance across local SEND systems.
They should regularly use evidence from Ofsted reports, Tribunal cases, parental complaints, Parent Carer Forums, SENDIAS services, and other local sources to review individual cases to inform timely and direct intervention where standards are not being met."