Digital Transformation, AI and Local Government: The Case for Workforce Upskilling
The new LocalGov and Multiverse report explores how workforce upskilling is driving smarter, more efficient, and inclusive local government transformation.
Parents take council to court over SEN funding
29/01/2025 Two sets of parents are taking Devon County Council to High court, arguing the council has agreed to make cuts to special educational needs (SEN) services. |
Why we should be concerned with the SEN2 survey
05/09/2023 Gareth Copeland, education consultant, OLM Systems, looks at the SEN2 survey and argues there is a disconnect with what really counts. |
Councils warn PM Sunak of impending cuts
24/10/2022 Council chiefs warn that they will have ‘no choice’ but to cut services unless the new PM provides them with enough funding to tackle cost-of-living crisis. |
Council’s ‘flawed’ school transport plan criticised
06/10/2022 Northumberland County Council has been criticised for its ‘flawed’ school transport policy when it comes to teenagers with special educational needs. |
Levelling up education
04/10/2022 James Lowe, director of Grolife, argues that local authorities should level up the procurement process and put pupils, not price, first. |
Council leaves child without transport to special needs school
11/08/2022 Hampshire council left a child with special needs with the choice of travelling in a taxi to school or facing a three-hour round-trip in shared transport. |
Councils face record £2.4bn deficits in SEN this year
29/07/2022 Local authority deficits in special educational needs (SEN) have reached an ‘unmanageable’ £2.4bn this year, new research has uncovered. |
County audit post-16 transport allocations following investigation
16/09/2021 Staffordshire County Council has agreed to audit a fifth of its post-16 transport applications after the ombudsman criticised the way it had made decisions. |
County to review its SEN services following ombudsman investigation
20/05/2021 Hampshire County Council has agreed to reviews its SEN services following an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. |
Ombudsman criticises council for lack of transport for SEN pupils
13/08/2020 Buckinghamshire County Council has been criticised for its lack of suitable school transport for children with special educational needs. |
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Councils call for more clarity on special needs duties during pandemic
28/04/2020 Councils have warned they are struggling to deliver statutory support for children with special educational needs and disabilities due to dealing with the demands of coronavirus. |
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Exclusion process suffers ‘serious weaknesses’
11/11/2019 The current system for excluding pupils from school suffers from ‘serious weaknesses’ and needs overhauling, a new report has found. |
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Councils spending more than £4m on SEN tribunals
28/10/2019 Local authorities spent £4.3m on handling and contesting special educational needs tribunals last year - an increase of nearly a quarter compared to the year before. |
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Children with special educational needs home schooled ‘as last resort’
15/10/2019 Parents of SEN children often home school their kids as a last resort rather than a preferred choice, a new Ofsted report has revealed. |
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Council criticised after SEN child left without education for over a year
12/09/2019 Worcestershire CC complaints policy has been criticised after a boy with special educational needs was left without appropriate education for 14 months. |
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Council chiefs warn SEN reforms will ‘break’ their budgets
19/07/2019 County council leaders have warned that reforms to expand special educational needs (SEN) services will ‘break’ their budgets. |
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Some schools 'discouraging' admission of special needs children
11/06/2019 Children with special needs are being discouraged from attending some primary schools, education experts have warned. |
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Councils warn of national 'special needs emergency'
06/06/2019 Councils are supporting more than 130 extra children and young people with special education needs every day, new figures have revealed. |
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Council criticised for ‘serious delays’ in completing SEND plans
23/05/2019 Hackney Council has been criticised by the ombudsman over serious delays when completing plans for children with Special Educational Needs. |
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Councils should help pupils at risk of expulsion, report says
07/05/2019 Local authorities should establish forums where schools and other local services could convene to plan support for vulnerable pupils at risk of expulsion, according to a landmark review. |
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Special needs provision in schools cut by over £1bn
16/04/2019 Children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities have lost out on £1.2bn of Government funding over the last four years. |
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‘Cash injection’ not enough for special needs education, warn council chiefs
29/05/2018 Council leaders have welcomed the announcement of extra money for special needs education — but warn that a 'one-off cash injection' is not enough. |
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Whitehall announces £45m to support SEND children
01/12/2017 The Government has announced a package of support worth nearly £45m to provide additional help for children with special educational needs and disabilities. |
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Thousands of special needs children left without school plan
08/08/2017 Thousands of children with special educational needs have not been been given a plan to move into secondary school by their local council, despite a legal obligation to do, new research has revealed. |
