The Lamb Inquiry was established by the Government in March 2008 to investigate ways in which parental/carer confidence in the SEN process might be improved. Sir Brian Lamb’s final report was published in December 2009. ACE welcomes the recommendations in the report, which we hope will help improve the situation for parents and their children. Through our advice line we hear from thousands of parents and carers of children with SEN, many of them are struggling to get the right support for their child. Parents tell us that they find the SEN system complicated and feel as if it is working against them rather than helping them.
Sir Brian, in interim reports recommended:
· that a parental/carer right of appeal should be provided if a Local Authority decides not to amend a Statement after a review
· that a specific duty should be placed on OFSTED to report on the quality of education provided for children with SEN/disabilities in schools.
The Government has accepted these recommendations and is implementing them in the Children, Schools and Families Bill currently before parliament.
The central message that comes through the final report is that parents and carers of children and young people with SEN need to be listened to more, and the system needs to be more ambitious for their children and young people, with a radical overhaul of the system which ruthlessly refocuses its efforts on securing better outcomes for children and young people and delivers the support they need in order to achieve. The report says that this will involve enhanced rights and a cultural shift in the way in which schools, local authorities and other professionals work with parents/carers and children/young people.
The report makes 51 recommendations covering four key areas:
• Children’s outcomes to be at the heart of the system
• A stronger voice for parents and carers
• A system with a greater focus on children/young people’s needs
• A more accountable system that delivers better services.
The Government has immediately responded by announcing:
• The establishment of a national SEN helpline to provide independent, expert advice and information to parents and carers directly over the ‘phone and through dedicated online support
• The strengthening of Parent Partnership Services
• That advice professionals give to Local Authorities should not be limited due to concerns about capacity to deliver
• That funding will be provided to the Local Government Ombudsman to take on parental complaints on SEN about Local Authorities from January 2010
• The strengthening of statutory exclusions guidance to school governors and appeal panels to require a review of whether the head teacher had regard to the guidance on SEN and disability
• Further targeted trialling and development of best practice
• Further work on tackling SEN/disability-related bullying and how schools can be supported to address it.
ACE hopes that the Government will take on board Sir Brian’s comment that the vision outlined in his report will only be achievable if his recommendations are taken as a whole. He points out that it is the combination of action in different areas that holds the potential to make a real difference to parents and children.
For further information, see:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/lambinquiry.
