VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Hunger costs put severe strain on public services
29/04/2025 Public services are under £13.7bn worth of pressure due to the Government’s negligence in addressing hunger and hardship, according to anti-poverty charity. |
Hackney’s blue badge assessments ‘flawed’
11/04/2025 Drivers in Hackney have been urged to reapply for a blue badge after an investigation revealed flaws in the council’s scheme. |
Stepping up to help disabled social housing tenants
07/04/2025 The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is calling for social housing providers to train staff in disability issues to help impaired tenants. |
Council apologises for failing to assess carer’s needs
03/04/2025 Southend-on-Sea City Council has agreed to apologise to a mother for failing to assess her needs as a carer on two occasions. |
Schools for pupils with SEND short by 8k places
28/03/2025 Department for Education figures have revealed that the shortage of places in special schools for secondary pupils in England worsened by 25% in 2023/24. |
Cuts to disability benefits could cost councils £1.2bn
24/03/2025 The Government's cuts to disability benefits could lead to £1.2bn of extra costs for social care services and the NHS, according to a think tank. |
Celebrities speak out against cuts to disability support
20/03/2025 Celebrities, including Rosie Jones and Sir Stephen Fry, have spoken out against benefit cuts, arguing they will force disabled people to use food banks. |
PAC: Inequalities risk being ‘baked into’ charge point roll-out
12/03/2025 Regional divides and inequalities risk being ‘baked into’ the roll-out of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, MPs have warned. |
Make a dent in the £100m compensation claim bill
19/02/2025 With stairs being the most common hazard in the home, AAT is giving local authority social care teams a best value tool to manage safety, fast. |
Quarter of children need social care by 18, study finds
03/02/2025 One in four children in England require social care services by the time they turn 18, a new study has revealed. |
Disability benefit claimants miss out on £4bn
31/01/2025 Benefit claimants received over £4bn less than they were entitled to in 2023-24 increasing the risk of financial hardship for those losing out, watchdog says. |
Special educational needs statutory override is 'abomination'
10/01/2025 Accountancy alone will not be enough to end the ‘abomination' of statutory overrides for special educational needs (SEN) budgets, a minister has said. |
Child put in care after councils fail to adapt home
05/12/2024 Errors made by two councils left a child with significant and complex needs living in an unsuitable home for ‘far too long’, an ombudsman has found. |
Council calls for SEND tribunals to consider safety valve arrangements
27/11/2024 Norfolk CC has called for tribunals handling special educational needs and disabilities appeals to consider if councils are receiving extra financial support. |
MPs sound alarm on SEND deficits
20/11/2024 Deficits in SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) budgets are among the top concerns for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). |
Care for working-age and disabled adults to cost £17bn by 2030
11/11/2024 Social care costs for working-age adults and those with a lifelong disability could reach £17bn by 2030, according to new research. |
New steps to keep tenants safe
08/11/2024 Housing Associations can now access a cost-effective method of managing the risk of helping keep tenants safe when using stairs. |
Many children not getting the right support, care regulator warns
25/10/2024 Many children and young people are not currently getting the support they need, England’s health and social care regulator has warned. |
Last provider of holidays with 24-hour care to close
11/10/2024 The UK’s only holiday provider that offers 24-hour care for people with complex disabilities is set to close over ‘insurmountable’ financial challenges. |
Mother fleeing abuse forced to live in mixed-sex B&B
10/10/2024 A mother fleeing abuse was forced to live in accommodation so unsuitable her disabled child would soil themselves rather than use the shared bathroom. |
Birmingham day centres set for axe
10/10/2024 Councillors in Birmingham have been advised to approve the closure of four day centres for disabled adults. |
Council apologises for flawed approach to travel support
04/10/2024 Sandwell Council has apologised after the local government Ombudsman found flaws in the way it considered a family’s application for travel support. |
Supported housing ‘on a knife edge’
20/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to boost spending on supported housing and consider a ring-fenced fund in next month’s Budget. |
Council SEND spending up 70%
16/09/2024 Local authority spending on children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has risen from £6.9bn to £12bn since 2018/19, new analysis reveals. |
Placing accessibility at the centre of house building
30/08/2024 Disabled architect and renowned access consultant, Amy Francis-Smith, argues that accessibility should be the focus of new local government house building. |
Council offers to brief Farage on SEND pressures
09/07/2024 Essex CC has offered to brief Nigel Farage MP on special educational needs and disabilities issues after the Reform UK leader criticised the council. |
Council failed in duties over care home closure
08/07/2024 Wokingham Borough Council’s failures over a struggling care home caused distress and anxiety for a woman who had lived there for 16 years, an investigation has found. |
Council pays family £1,500 after school transport failure
04/07/2024 A family in Surrey has been paid £1,500 in compensation after the county council failed to provide school transport for a child with medical needs. |
Leeds council proposes SEND transport overhaul
02/07/2024 Leeds City Council has proposed reducing transport support for post-16 learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Councils face £1bn SEND shortfall
18/06/2024 Local authorities in England are facing a critical shortfall of almost £1bn in special needs budgets this year, new research has found. |
Councils looking after record 576k children with SEND
13/06/2024 Local authorities are looking after record numbers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), council chiefs warn. |
Annual welfare spending to rise by £20bn
13/06/2024 Welfare spending is set to increase by £20.8bn a year by the end of the next parliament, a think-tank has found. |
London sees 400% increase in blue badge thefts
04/06/2024 A fourfold increase in the number of blue badge thefts in London is partly the result of local authority cuts, warns London Assembly Member. |
Autism care plans in North Yorkshire rise by almost 400%
31/05/2024 The number of children and young people in North Yorkshire who have autism as a primary need on their care plan has risen by 387% since 2015. |
What do safety valve agreements mean for children with SEND?
14/05/2024 Catriona Moore, policy manager at SEND legal advice charity IPSEA, looks at the impact of safety valve agreements on local SEND provision. |
Ministers propose disability benefits overhaul amid ‘spiralling’ costs
30/04/2024 Plans to overhaul the disability benefits system and ‘deliver better value for the taxpayer’ have been laid out by the Government. |
Elderly forced to wait over six months for home adaptations
30/04/2024 Elderly and disabled people are being forced to wait over six months for the installation of home adaptations due to poor administration at the local level. |
MPs call for Carer’s Allowance review
23/04/2024 MPs have called for a review of Carer’s Allowance as new figures showed rising numbers of benefit overpayments going undetected, The Guardian has reported. |
Proposed disability benefit reforms criticised
22/04/2024 The Prime Minister’s proposed Personal Independence Payments (PIP) reforms will ‘heap more misery’ on people with disabilities, charity says. |
Union criticises Government’s ‘shameful’ SEND support
04/04/2024 Teachers and support staff are ‘losing faith’ in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system due to inadequate resources, a union has warned. |
Newcastle moves cycle barriers that blocked disabled access
04/04/2024 Newcastle City Council has agreed to move a set of barriers after a disabled cyclist raised concerns that the design constituted indirect discrimination. |
Spending on SEND school transport doubles to £1.4bn
27/03/2024 The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school transport system is threatening 'the financial viability of councils’, council leaders warn. |
Bristol SEND services get £54m bailout
25/03/2024 Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in Bristol are to receive a nearly £54m bailout, the Government has confirmed. |
Thurrock bin crews trapped wheelchair user
20/02/2024 Bin crews in Thurrock have repeatedly trapped a disabled woman in her home by not returning her bins to the proper place, ombudsman finds. |
The joys of inclusive play
12/02/2024 Nathalie Esfandi, co-founder of the Fair Play playground, discusses the important role local councils can play in creating inclusive play environments. |
Children with SEND just ‘badly behaved’, councillors claim
07/02/2024 Warwickshire CC has launched an investigation after a video revealed councillors making disparaging remarks about children with special educational needs. |
MPs to debate free school meals extension
10/01/2024 MPs are set to debate the extension of the free school meals scheme today as tens of thousands of eligible disabled children miss out on extra support. |
Councils hit by improvement notices
20/11/2023 Oldham MBC and Oxfordshire CC have received improvement notices for their services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Government falling 'woefully short' on supported housing
10/11/2023 Vulnerable people are increasingly provided with poor quality supported housing and suffer ‘significant, detrimental’ impacts due to inadequate support, a report has found. |
London faces ‘chronic’ street clutter issue
18/10/2023 Central London has a ‘chronic’ issue with street clutter such as disused phone boxes and discarded e-bikes, a think tank has warned. |
Councils ‘wasted’ £46m on SEND tribunals
26/09/2023 Councils ‘wasted’ £46m on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) tribunals in 2021-22, economists have reported. |
Charity calls for pavement parking crack down
25/09/2023 A charity for the visually impaired has urged the Government to do more to crack down on pavement parking. |
Newham to review hundreds of rejected freedom passes
07/09/2023 Following an ombudsman investigation, the London Borough of Newham will review more than 200 applications for freedom passes it rejected. |
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. |
Government failing to protect disabled people
17/08/2023 The UK and Welsh governments are failing to protect disabled people from discrimination and the situation is worsening due to the cost-of-living crisis. |
DfT faces Court of Appeal challenge over kerb heights
16/08/2023 A disability campaigner has won the right to take her case to the Court of Appeal in battle over the Department for Transport's minimum kerb height guidance. |
Disabled people missing out on £24m every month
16/08/2023 Delays to Personal Independent Payment (PIP) reviews have left disabled people missing out on an estimated £24m every month, according to Citizens Advice. |
Housing Ombudsman orders Waverley to pay £13,000
11/08/2023 Waverley Borough Council has been ordered to pay nearly £13,000 after delays meant a resident was forced to install disability adaptations themselves. |
Pedestrian crossings lights could stay green longer
25/07/2023 Active Travel England (ATE) is considering introducing new guidance for councils that could increase the amount of time people have to cross the road. |
Inquiry on housing for people with disabilities launched
25/07/2023 MPs have launched an inquiry into how far the planning system is helping to deliver homes that are suitable for disabled people. |
Toolkit to help carers of disabled children launched
09/06/2023 The Government has launched a new toolkit aimed at helping families access funds belonging to disabled young people. |
Bristol council faces bankruptcy
25/05/2023 Bristol City Council has been warned it must take urgent action to avoid bankruptcy over the spiralling cost of special educational needs and disabilities. |
Care leaders warn social care system ‘run out of road’
26/04/2023 Body representing social services directors has published ‘roadmap’ for fixing care and says there is a consensus on what needs to be done but a lack of will. |
Safeguarding overhaul called for after ‘horrific’ child abuse case
20/04/2023 Council leaders have called for more powers to hold partners to account after a review into the abuse of children with disabilities at Hesley Group of homes. |
Council agrees to refund thousands in school transport costs
20/04/2023 Leicestershire County Council has agreed to refund a mother’s school transport costs after Ombudsman found flaws in the way it handled her application. |
Legal threat forces Devon CC to halt care cuts
17/04/2023 Devon County Council will halt its plans to cut adult day and respite services after the mental health charity Mencap threatened to take legal action. |
Counter-terrorism measures restrict blue badge parking, campaigners say
11/04/2023 A policy of restricting access to York city centre for motorists with blue badges has been slammed as ‘disproportionate’ and a human rights breach. |
Mencap threatens council with legal action over cuts
30/03/2023 A learning disability charity has threatened to take legal action against Devon CC over the council's plans to ‘severely cut’ adult day and respite services. |
Council welcomes £3.5m Morrisons fine after employee death
20/03/2023 Morrisons has been fined £3.5m following successful prosecution by Tewkesbury BC after the death of an epileptic employee in one of the supermarket’s stores. |
Autistic children face discrimination in care system
03/03/2023 Marginalised families with autistic children face serious problems in the health, care, and education systems, according to new research. |
Birmingham City Council to review respite care complaints process
02/03/2023 Birmingham is to review the way it responds to complaints about respite care for children with disabilities after it told families to appeal to the Ombudsman. |
New SEND plan fails on ‘fundamental’ issues, council chiefs say
02/03/2023 New plan to support children with special educational needs and disabilities fails to address ‘fundamental cost and demand issues’, council chiefs say. |
Charity calls for Newcastle e-scooter trial to be ‘closed down’
27/02/2023 A trial of an e-scooter rental scheme in Newcastle has come under fire for risking the ‘safety and accessibility’ of disabled pedestrians. |
Surrey council agrees to review SEND support
16/02/2023 Surrey CC has agreed to review its SEND support for children and young people following an investigation by the local government and social care ombudsman. |
Charity calls for ban on pavement parking to improve accessibility
09/02/2023 People with disabilities struggle to move around their communities due to ‘inadequate infrastructure’, a sustainable transport charity has found. |
Building inclusive schools
17/01/2023 School sector lead at ADP Architecture Claire Mantle looks at the role of architecture in making schools more inclusive and accessible. |
SEND pupils ‘unfairly excluded’, charity says
16/12/2022 Pupils with additional needs have said they are unfairly excluded from mainstream schools because of racism and a lack of understanding from professionals. |
Croydon council criticised for failing to provide respite care
09/12/2022 Croydon council has been criticised for failing to provide respite care for the mother of a disabled teenager because it would cost too much. |
Council fined £30,000 after disabled man left in unsuitable accommodation
24/11/2022 Birmingham council has apologised after a disabled man was left in unsuitable temporary accommodation for eight years. |
Council delay leaves disabled woman stuck downstairs
03/11/2022 A delay by Slough Borough Council in a decision about a stairlift forced a disabled woman to sleep, eat and wash downstairs, investigation reveals. |
Delayed EHC Plan highlights recruitment crisis
03/11/2022 North Yorkshire County Council’s struggle to recruit an educational psychologist highlights a wider problem faced by councils across the UK, Ombudsman says. |
Providers specialising in autism care warn of contract hand back
31/10/2022 Providers of adult social care have called for more support to be given to providers who look after individuals with a learning disability and autistic people. |
Council leaves visually impaired woman without support
20/10/2022 Leicestershire CC has agreed to improve how it prepares social care and support plans after a visually impaired woman was left without support for two years. |
Six million people on disability benefits to receive £150
20/09/2022 Six million people who are paid certain disability benefits will begin to receive a one-off payment of £150 from today to help with the cost-of-living crisis. |
Disabilities charity calls for ‘immediate increase’ in benefits
12/09/2022 A charity has called for an ‘immediate increase’ in disability benefits and for more assistance with energy costs to help families with disabled children. |
Council's disability support policy over a decade late
19/08/2022 A council in Lancashire was more than a decade late in introducing a policy outlining how it supports disabled people to use its services, Ombudsman finds. |
Councils receive £7.6m to help people with autism into work
18/08/2022 Twenty-four councils are set to receive £7.6m over the next three years to help over 2,000 adults with learning disabilities and autism move into work. |
Lambeth Council to make controversial LTN permanent
16/08/2022 Lambeth Council is proposing to make one of its Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) permanent and to introduce a number of improvements. |
Councils warned not to ‘forget’ about people with learning disabilities
11/08/2022 Local authorities must ensure people with learning disabilities are supported through the cost of living crisis, charity says. |
Disabled teenage siblings left without support for 18 months
04/08/2022 Liverpool council has apologised after two teenage siblings with significant needs were not provided with the support they should have received for 18 months. |
New homes to be more accessible for older and disabled people
29/07/2022 The Government will raise the accessibility standard for new homes following a consultation on the proposals. |
Council forced into U-Turn over care package
26/07/2022 Stockport Council has been forced into a U-Turn over plans to reduce a disabled woman’s care package following a successful legal challenge. |
Seven more Scottish councils make Adult Disability Payment available
25/07/2022 The Adult Disability Payment is now available in seven more council areas in Scotland ahead of national roll out on 29 August. |
Peers highlight lack of progress improving 'flawed' Act
11/07/2022 Little progress has been made in addressing the lack of coordination between the licensing and planning systems, a House of Lords committee has reported. |
Autistic Dorset boy left for two years without school
07/07/2022 Dorset Council to reform the way it provides alternative education for children, after a boy with special educational needs missed out on two years of school. |
Disabled benefit claimants forced to wait five months for first payment
06/07/2022 Benefit claimants applying for disability support are waiting around five months on average to be awarded their first payment, financial experts have revealed. |
Taxi drivers could be fined £1,000 for not supporting disabled passengers
04/07/2022 Taxi and PHV drivers could face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to offer an accessible service to disabled passengers taking a pre-booked vehicle. |
Council apologises after failing to support autistic girl
30/06/2022 Suffolk council apologized after an investigation revealed that the local authority had failed to provide therapy for a child with special educational needs. |
Council chiefs call for ‘action’ to deal with spiralling SEND costs
29/06/2022 The number of children in England in need of special needs support has increased dramatically over the past year, local authority leaders say. |
Consultation for new SEND inspection framework launched
14/06/2022 Ofsted and the CQC have today launched a consultation on a new draft framework for inspecting local provision for children and young people with SEND. |
