The Care Quality Commission have today published the phase one report   of their review of children and young people’s mental health services which ultimately reveals, as expected, that too many children and young people “have a poor...

Ombudsman - SEN families face 'disproportionate burden'

• Posted2017-10-24 08:57
• AuthorEd Duff

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has released a report concerning its investigation into the first 100 complaints it has received about Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The Ombudsman’s covering article is entitled...

Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales reports on appeals

• Posted2017-10-23 10:09
• AuthorLaura Giggs

HCB Solicitors recently attended the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (SENTW) User Group Meeting 2017.   During the user group, the SENTW presented information about the appeals that it had dealt with during the year 2016/17.   In...

When is an EHCP necessary? - New Upper Tribunal case

• Posted2017-10-13 11:35
• AuthorLaura Giggs

The Upper Tribunal has recently published its judgment for JP v Sefton MBC [2017] UKUT 0364 (AAC). This case concerns the statutory test of “necessity” for an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This case can be useful for parents who...

Pupils with Special Educational Needs ten times more likely to be excluded

• Posted2017-10-10 15:13
• AuthorEd Duff

The Welsh Government recently published data concerning permanent fixed term exclusions from schools for the period 2015 to 2016.    This data indicates that children and young people with Special Educational Needs in Wales are at significantly...

Clamp Down on Contract Cheating in Higher Education

• Posted2017-10-09 15:13
• AuthorLaura Giggs

A recent news article by the BBC ‘ Essay cheat companies face university ban ’ discusses how new guidance for universities requires them to clamp down on so-called ‘essay mills’; businesses allowing students to purchase essays and...

Adopted Children and Special Educational Needs

• Posted2017-10-04 16:39
• AuthorEd Duff

The BBC has recently published an article entitled “We’re scared of our adopted son”.  The article can be found here , and deals with what psychiatrists have started to refer to as “callous unemotional traits”.  ...