Families launch legal bid to prevent SEND cuts

A council’s decision to cut more than £21m from its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) budget is the latest to be challenged in court by children and their families. Families are taking Surrey County Council to court claiming it has breached its public sector equality duty and is failing to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable children. The attempt to prove Surrey County Council’s actions are unlawful is currently being heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Five Surrey children with special educational needs claim the local authority should have consulted with those who would be affected before it approved a decision to reduce its SEND funding by £21m. They also claim the council has breached its public sector equality duty and that it failed to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable children, as required by the Children Act 2014. According to council documents, the number of children with a SEND statement or education health and care (EHC) plan it supports rose by 44 per cent from 2,342 in 2010/11 to 7,700 by February 2018. Read more.