A group of children with special educational needs and their parents have launched a legal battle to challenge planned cuts which they say will affect them. The families from Surrey have taken their case to the High Court in a bid to stop their local council taking £21m off their budget for services to disabled children.They also claim the council is in breach of its public sector equality duty and that members failed to “have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when taking a decision to significantly reduce funding for services for a group of highly vulnerable children,” as required by the Children’s Act 2004. The families claim the planned cuts are unlawful because the authority did not consult affected families.
The council says its focus is still to make sure children get the support they need and that there had been a sharp increase in demand for SEND services this decade which meant that there was already insufficient funding but denied that the cuts were ‘indiscriminate.’
The claim has been paid for by a crowdfunding appeal and will also be replicated in other parts of the country – including Scarborough – facing cuts in their Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEND) budgets.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45705809iew BBC News .
The High Court is expected to give its decision in the near future.
