Hypocrite or simply a mother wanting to do the best for her son? Whatever your view on the MP Ruth Kelly's decision to send her son to a private special needs school, the surrounding controversy has highlighted that the statementing process is still failing many families.
In the wake of the Kelly row, many parents have voiced their dissatisfaction with the current system and the lack of options available to them, amid calls for a stronger, shared agenda to support the 20 per cent of children who are directly affected.
According to the Government, progress is being made and investment has increased. During 2006/07 local authorities received over 4.5bn to spend on support in schools, compared with 3.5bn in 2003/04.
But despite recommendations in a recent Education and Skills Select Committee report to overhaul the statementing process, there is no immediate prospect of this happening.
A lengthy process
DfES statistics reveal that the number of children with new statements of Special Educational Needs has steadily decreased in the last decade, dropping from 36,200 in 1998 to 24,000 in 2005. This has to be placed in the context of a decrease in the underlying population.
It is interesting to note the sizeable disparity between the number of girls and boys with statements. In 2006 there were over 28,000 boys aged eight and under in maintained settings with statements, while there were just over 11,000 girls.
Accessing an SEN statement for a child is often just the start of a process that can span many years. The statement sets out a child's needs and the help they should have and is reviewed annually to ensure that any extra support continues to meet those needs.
Where there is disagreement about what the statement says, parents can talk to their named officer or the Parent Partnership service. They also have the right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). The whole process should adhere to a strict time-frame.
Many parents will seek a statement before a child transfers into reception, and early intervention and multi- agency working is essential.
Most local authorities have a strategy to accommodate SEN children in a mainstream school with support, or in a resourced unit attached to a school. Only a minority are in specialist provision.
Pressures on services
In Solihull, as in most areas, sticking to timescales is a priority. SEN co-ordinator Sonia Waszczak says, 'This has been running well and we have a specialist inclusion support service providing a package of support to settings, including advice and specialist staff.
'We are committed to the inclusion of children into mainstream settings, using a wide range of agencies. Where children have complex needs, they will get support throughout the day, but inevitably this is subject to funding.'
Lesley Campbell, national children's officer at Mencap, believes local authority provision is improving. She says, 'Many parents have less need to chase for statements, and this is a good thing because the process itself can be so fraught. Although there is an improvement in the support provided during the early years this is not always carried through as the child progresses through school.'
Ms Campbell emphasises that the biggest challenge for settings and schools is gearing up for children with more complex and severe disabilities, who are growing in number. 'Children with autism and at the extreme end of disability are the ones who are increasing and this will place new pressures on services,' she says.
Maintaining the focus on education as well as health can also be a challenge. 'Health needs tend to come first, and where care is wrapped around the child by a support worker, there can be minimal contact with the teacher.'
She adds that teachers themselves do not necessarily have the training to work effectively with a teaching assistant or support worker, who are often contracted to minimum hours. This will inevitably impact on the level of the child's progress.
At the National Autistic Society, Liesel Batterham, the education advice line co-ordinator for England and Wales, says that parents' experience of the statementing process will vary according to which local authority they have to deal with. But going through the statementing process is a tough option for anyone. The NAS provides advice on practical aspects such as outlining letters, dealing with deadlines and queries, and providing individual education plans for the child.
Ms Batterham says, 'Every parent is entitled to request a statutory assessment, which may or may not lead to a statement. If a local authority decides a statement is not necessary, that family can go to tribunal.'
A spokesman for SENDIST reports that appeals for statements for pre-school children are low. Of its total number of appeals across the whole age range each year, around 60 per cent are withdrawn. 'For many families it is an ongoing process of re-assessment as their child's needs change, and it is a complicated process. If the local authority has refused to issue a statement, we can order it to do so, but we cannot tell the LEA what should go into the statement,' he says.
Clearly there is a gap between what families say is their experience and what the Government claims is improvement. Ultimately it comes down to funding, and while some, such as Ruth Kelly, can afford to pay privately for the education they want their child to have, most cannot.
The debate is no longer just about inclusion versus special schools, but about providing for all children's special needs on an individual basis.
There is still a long way to go to meet that challenge. NW
Further information
* www.sendist. gov.uk
* www.dfes. gsi.gov.uk
* www.nas.org.uk
Government progress
In rejecting the need for a major review of SEN policy at this time, the Government says it has taken into account the progress that has been made since the publication of its 2004 strategy report, Removing Barriers to Achievement. However, there will be new pressures on local authorities to issue final statements in the statutory 26 weeks so parents and children are not left in the dark.
Progress includes:
* More resources going into schools to support children with SEN, with local authority figures showing a rise in spending from 3.5bn in 2003/04 to over 4.5bn in 2006/07
* Continuing progress in local authority performance in meeting statutory timescales for producing statements - 92 per cent of draft statements were produced in the 18-week timescale in 2005
* Fewer cases have been taken to SENDIST in recent years. The Tribunal's 2004/05 report shows that in this period there were some 3,215 appeals, compared with 3,532 in 2002/03, representing a 9 per cent reduction.
