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Press Release

LGA response to special educational needs green paper

9 March 2011

Responding to the Special Education Needs and Disability Green Paper, Baroness Shireen Ritchie, Chairman of the Local Government Association Children and Young People Board, said:

“The aim of creating a single system for people up to the age of 25 with special educational needs is one which the LGA supports. However, more work needs to be done on how to make this ambition a reality.

“Talk of realigning systems simply does not go far enough. What the system needs is a radical transformation built on a firm legislative base.

“Councils are responsible for providing these services to people right through to the age of 25. We need a system that joins up the SEN provision in schools with that in further education colleges.

“We must be clear that if council support for SEN is to continue at its current level, which is something that all local authorities want to see, it must be sufficiently funded. In the recent local government financial settlement, councils saw funding for early intervention cut by 25%. Councils have been leading the way on giving parents greater control over their children's education through personalised budgets, but the Government needs to make sure that the funding from health, education and social care is available to meet these costs.

“Many councils have already made great strides in improving the SEN support they provide and it is encouraging that the Green Paper recognises the key role councils do, and will continue, to play in the coming years.”



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