| SPOTLIGHT |
A review of England’s disagreement resolution arrangements for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has found that mediation has been effective in reducing the number of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal for SEND and has saved money.
The review, by the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), also concluded that areas with a person-centred approach and a strong information, advice and support service have reduced the number of disagreements, and resolved them early when they do arise.
Evidence on the pilot enabling the tribunal to consider health and social care issues and make non-binding recommendations had proven limited, but early findings suggested this improved joint working between education, health and social care services.
In its response, the Government said it intended to publish good practice guidance, and support continuous professional development for relevant local authority staff.
It will also examine how best to channel government support for families from April 2018, when the transition to education, health and care plans is due to be complete, and will support the mediation sector to introduce voluntary standards and accreditation of training programmes for SEND mediation.
Vulnerable Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson and Justice Minister Sir Oliver Heald said reforms to the SEND system under the Children and Families Act 2014 had been designed to be less confrontational so that any disagreements could be resolved early with support in place with minimum delays.
They said: “We have already made the biggest reforms to the SEND support system in a generation by placing children and their families at the heart of the system.
“Improvements set out in this report seek to embed our reforms further and ensure that families are well supported if disagreements do occur.”
Mark Smulian
