Politics
Parents trapped in special needs tribunal backlog as disputes surge by 50% | Special educational needs
Parents are having to wait more than a year for tribunal hearings into inadequate provision for children with special educational needs after new cases surged by more than 50% in a year.
The National Audit Office last week highlighted the worsening crisis in the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system, with cash-strapped councils unable to meet rising need amid a lack of suitable school and college places.
The Send tribunal deals with disputes in England between a local authority and parents or young people about provision for their education.
The number of new cases registered with the Send tribunal surged from 13,083 in the year to June 2023 to 20,102 in the year to June 2024. Before the pandemic, the figure was fewer than 7,000. When looking at all cases in the Send tribunal system, rather than just newly registered ones, there has been a 43% annual rise, to 32,069. Eight years ago, the figure was below 4,500.
The Observer has been contacted by parents who are waiting more than a year for a hearing because the service is overstretched.
In other cases, councils are conceding to parents’ demands just before a tribunal is held, while some local authorities are failing to implement tribunal findings.
Julie Cragg is trying to get her council to secure a non-mainstream school for her autistic six-year-old daughter, who has panic attacks at her current school and physically resists being made to attend. She has been given a tribunal date of December 2025.
“They haven’t got the capacity,” she told the Observer. “They are overwhelmed at the moment … And in the meantime, my daughter is suffering, and not just her. The children in her mainstream class are suffering too, because my daughter takes one or two members of staff every day away from the class setting.”
Parents have a near-100% success rate at Send tribunals. The Tribunal Procedure Committee, which makes rules on how senior tribunals work, implied in a consultation document last month that councils are dragging out tribunals to save money by not meeting the needs of Send children.
“The local authority is able to delay any final outcome which might involve the use of their resources to comply with the statutory deadline to complete the EHC (education, health and care) needs assessment,” it said.
Gillian Doherty, co-director of the website Special Needs Jungle, said: “Delays in accessing tribunals are causing significant disadvantage to disabled children and young people who are often unable to access suitable education and provision in the meantime, with no route of redress for missed provision.
“Local authorities must be adequately resourced and held accountable for making lawful decisions first time.”
Maria Bloom of IPSEA, a Send legal charity, said: “The rising number of appeals to the Send tribunal highlights the extent to which local authorities routinely and unlawfully deny children and young people with Send the special educational provision and support they are legally entitled to.
“We hear from families every day through our helplines who are having to fight to secure the education their children need and are entitled to by law. With 98% of tribunal appeals finding in favour of families, it’s clear that local authorities are repeatedly failing to meet their legal obligations.”
According to the thinktank Pro Bono Economics, Send tribunals cost the public sector nearly £90m a year. A Local Government Association spokesperson said: “The need for reform of Send services is now unavoidable. Councils are struggling to cope with a more than doubling of children on education, health and care plans within a system that creates ‘perverse incentives’ to shift responsibility between public bodies and inadvertently creates adversarial relationships between local authorities and parents.
“We find ourselves with a system weighted down by legal disputes through tribunals and an over-reliance on special schools due to a loss of parental confidence that mainstream schools can meet their children’s needs. We are calling for action which builds new capacity and creates inclusion in mainstream settings, supported by adequate and sustainable long-term funding, and the writing off of councils’ high-needs deficits.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “For too long, children and young people with Send have been let down by a system that is not working, but this government is determined to deliver change.
“Urgent work is already under way to ensure more children are getting earlier and better support to thrive in education through our curriculum and assessment review, Ofsted reforms, and new early years Send training.”
The Ministry of Justice said it has recruited 45 judges to sit on Send tribunals, with more to follow.
Politics
MP Liz Twist faces calls to resign Age UK Gateshead role over Winter Fuel Payment vote
An MP has faced calls to resign as chair of a local charity for older people after she backed the government’s plans to cut the Winter Fuel Payment.
Labour’s Liz Twist, Blaydon and Consett, who is chair of the board of trustees at Age UK Gateshead, voted with her party to restrict the payment to the poorest pensioners.
A number of constituents have emailed the charity calling for her removal, with one telling the BBC she felt it was “hypocritical” she stayed, as she represents “one of the poorest parts of country”.
Twist said she would work with the charity to ensure “every pensioner is in receipt of their full entitlement”. The charity said it was “advocating against the government’s decision”.
‘Fixing economy’
One resident, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: “I feel the government has set the threshold just right so that it excludes millions who fall slightly over the criteria meaning they are still in fuel poverty and will need to decide between heating and eating.
“Given she [Twist] is a North East MP, representing one of the poorest parts of the country, I feel it’s very hypocritical for her to hold this position and it’s disappointing that she did not vote against the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment.”
Both Age UK Gateshead and Twist’s office said rumours she had resigned from the charity role were untrue.
Twist, who as Sir Keir Starmer’s Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) acts as the prime minister’s “eyes and ears” among backbench MPs, said the values and aims of Age UK Gateshead remained close to her heart.
“As a government, it is crucial to ensure that we can fix the foundations of our economy and deliver on the promise of change,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Age UK Gateshead said its trustees maintain “the highest standards of impartiality in their work”.
“Age UK Gateshead is fully aligned with the older people we support in advocating against the government’s decision to means test Winter Fuel Payments,” they said.
It added it was working alongside the national arm of the charity to highlight “the huge impact” the decision “is likely to have on older people”.
Politics
Commons Speaker rebukes Rachel Reeves for Budget comments in US
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has reprimanded Chancellor Rachel Reeves for giving interviews to reporters in the US about her upcoming Budget.
Parliamentary rules say major government announcements should be made to MPs in the Commons, ahead of journalists.
An exasperated Sir Lindsay said failing to do so was a “supreme discourtesy to the House” and he was “very, very disappointed” with Reeves.
Responding to the criticism, the prime minister’s spokesman said it was “entirely routine for government to make announcements in the run-up to Budgets and spending reviews”.
He added that Parliament would have “all the requisite time to scrutinise measures clearly”.
Reeves will deliver her first Budget on Wednesday in the Commons.
Last Friday, she outlined her plan to “change the way that we we measure debt” during a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.
She explained she planned a technical change to loosen self-imposed limits on borrowing, to free up billions of pounds extra for infrastructure spending on projects such as roads, railways and hospitals.
The government has promised to get debt falling as share of the economy during the course of this parliament, rather than over a rolling five-year period.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Sir Lindsay said the policy changes “could hardly be described as a leak” when she had given on-the-record interviews, including to the BBC.
He said: “Ministers should expect to face proper, sustained scrutiny when these announcements are made to the elected members of this House and not the American news channels.”
This was because Reeves’ comments were major new policy announcements with “significant and wide-ranging implications for the government’s fiscal policy and for the public finances”, he added.
The Speaker said this was “totally unacceptable” and asked why Reeves expected MPs to wait “almost a week” simply to hear her repeat her announcements in her Budget statement.
MPs might be wondering, he added, “how they will get a seat on Wednesday. Well, to be honest the way it’s going you won’t need to – we’ll have all heard it.”
With Treasury minister Darren Jones making a statement to the House on “fiscal rules” later on Monday, the Speaker remarked: “Perhaps no coincidence.”
Alluding to previous breaches of parliamentary rules, Sir Lindsay noted that, when in opposition, Labour would complain about the previous Conservative government behaving in a similar manner, and demanded: “Get your acts together, all sides, treat Members with respect.”
Politics
Just Stop Oil activists banned from London protests by judge
Three Just Stop Oil activists have been banned from protesting in London ahead of their trial for allegedly throwing soup at two Vincent Van Gogh paintings at the National Gallery.
Mary Somerville, 77, Stephen Simpson, 71, and Phillipa Green, 24, are each charged with two counts of damaging the frames of Sunflowers 1889 and Sunflowers 1888 by dousing the artwork in soup.
The three appeared at Southwark Crown Court earlier and pleaded not guilty before being released on conditional bail.
The judge banned them from protest action within the boundary of the M25 until their trial – which is scheduled to begin in January 2026.
Mr Simpson, of Shipley, West Yorkshire, and Ms Somerville, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, attended court in person, while Ms Green, from Penryn in Cornwall, appeared by video link.
Their lawyer, Raj Chada, argued the ban was a “disproportional” infringement on their right to protest because London is “the seat of government”.
But Judge Alexander Milne said: “The application of the defendants’ right to protest is a relative one – and there seems to be a great deal of blurring between the exercise of that right and the commission of criminal offences.
“This court is not banning them from lawful protest anywhere else in the UK, but I will ban them from participating in any protest within the M25.”
Politics
Tommy Robinson jailed for contempt of court
Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after admitting contempt of court by repeating false claims against a Syrian refugee.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021 during a hearing in Woolwich Crown Court.
Lawyers for the solicitor general accused Robinson, 41, of “undermining” the rule of law.
Barristers for Robinson said it was his “principles that have brought him before the court”.
The hearing on Monday was the culmination of events that date back to October 2018.
That month, a video went viral showing how Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian in West Yorkshire, had been attacked by another teenager at school.
Yaxley-Lennon then posted his own response to one million Facebook followers alleging that his investigation had established that Mr Hijazi was a violent thug, a claim that was untrue.
The Yaxley-Lennon video spread widely and the Syrian teenager and his family received death threats.
Three years later, Mr Hijazi won £100,000 in damages when the High Court ruled the Yaxley-Lennon’s claims against him had amounted to defamation.
The court imposed an injunction on Yaxley-Lennon, banning him from making the false claims again.
In February 2023, Yaxley-Lennon began repeating the claims and went on to post online a film claiming he had been “silenced” by the state.
That film may have been viewed at least 47 million times.
Eventually, this July, Yaxley-Lennon showed the film to thousands of his supporters in Trafalgar Square, saying he would not be silenced. The following day he left the country.
Aidan Eardley KC, for the solicitor general, told the court that Yaxley-Lennon had intended to repeat the false allegations, despite the injunction, and then take “evasive” measures.
“This is a high culpability case because of the high number of breaches,” said Mr Eardley.
“It is a continuing breach, the material is still out there and some of it is under the defendant’s control.”
Sasha Wass KC, for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he was a journalist who had been following his principles and was a passionate believer in free speech.
“This defendant has been neither sly nor dishonest nor seeking gain for himself,” she said.
She said that he was such a controversial figure he may be placed in solitary confinement by prison governors, as had occurred the last time he had been jailed, and there was medical evidence he had previously suffered trauma, panic attacks and nightmares.
Jailing Yaxley-Lennon for 18 months, Mr Justice Johnson said: “In a democratic society underpinned by the rule of law, court orders must be obeyed.
“Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick or choose which laws or which injunctions they obey, or which they do not.
“Even if they believe that an injunction is… contrary to their views they must comply with the injunction.
“They are not entitled to set themselves up as the judge in their own court. Otherwise the administration of justice and rule of law would break down.”
The judge said that the contempt of court had been aggravated because the defendant had repeated the claims after the beginning of proceedings against him – and he had not taken steps to stop the false claims continuing to be in circulation.
The sentence could in future be cut by four months if the defendant showed the court that he had taken steps to remove the offending film.
But the judge added: “The defendant has not shown any inclination to comply with the injunction in the future. All of his actions suggest that he regards himself as above the law.”
This case was the fourth contempt case he has faced, having previously received a suspended sentence and a six-month jail term.
Yaxley-Lennon has been separately charged with failing to unlock his phone for police when he was stopped and questioned at a port under counter-terrorism powers. He will next appear in court in relation to that allegation in November.
Politics
Bus fares cap in England to be raised to £3
The bus fare cap in England will be raised to £3 in the upcoming Budget, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced.
It is an increase on the current limit of £2 which was introduced under the previous Conservative government to help with the cost of living.
The existing cap was due to expire at the end of December.
Sir Keir said: “I do know how much this matters, particularly in rural communities where there is heavy reliance on buses.”
The new £3 cap will run until the end of 2025.
There had been speculation in recent days that the chancellor would announce in the Budget on Wednesday that the current cap would be scrapped.
This would have meant that some passengers faced a steep hike in fares following two years of help.
Around 3.4 million people in England use buses. The Confederation of Passenger Transport said raising the cap from £2 has avoided travellers facing a “cliff edge” at the end of this year.
But it said: “An increase to £3 will still present challenges for many passengers, particularly those who rely on buses as their primary means of affordable travel.”
Greenpeace said it was a “‘tough decision’ the government didn’t need to make”.
“It makes no political, economical or environmental sense whatsoever,” said Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace’s UK’s senior transport campaigner.
He said buses are a “critical lifeline to millions of people, particularly those on lower incomes”.
“A government that was truly prioritising the needs of the poorest in society would rethink this decision at the first opportunity,” he said.
Politics
PM ‘shocked’ by CCTV appearing to show Mike Amesbury MP punch man
The Prime Minister has said video footage that has emerged of MP Mike Amesbury appearing to punch a man to the ground is “shocking”.
Mr Amesbury has been suspended from the party and had the Labour whip withdrawn after CCTV footage appeared on Sunday.
Sir Keir Starmer said the party had “moved very swiftly” to respond after the footage was published.
He added: “There is now a police investigation and in the circumstances you’ll appreciate there’s not much more I can say about that.”
Cheshire Police said a 55-year-old man had been voluntarily interviewed under caution in relation to the incident and had since been released pending further enquiries.
In footage obtained by the Daily Mail, the Runcorn and Helsby MP is apparently seen continuing to hit the man as he lies in the street.
Amesbury has been contacted for comment.
A different video, posted on X, purported to show Amesbury shouting and swearing at the man lying in the street in Frodsham, Cheshire.
-
Technology1 month ago
Is sharing your smartphone PIN part of a healthy relationship?
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
How to unsnarl a tangle of threads, according to physics
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Hyperelastic gel is one of the stretchiest materials known to science
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
‘Running of the bulls’ festival crowds move like charged particles
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Maxwell’s demon charges quantum batteries inside of a quantum computer
-
Technology1 month ago
Would-be reality TV contestants ‘not looking real’
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
X-rays reveal half-billion-year-old insect ancestor
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Sunlight-trapping device can generate temperatures over 1000°C
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Ukraine is using AI to manage the removal of Russian landmines
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Liquid crystals could improve quantum communication devices
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Physicists have worked out how to melt any material
-
TV4 weeks ago
সারাদেশে দিনব্যাপী বৃষ্টির পূর্বাভাস; সমুদ্রবন্দরে ৩ নম্বর সংকেত | Weather Today | Jamuna TV
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Samsung Passkeys will work with Samsung’s smart home devices
-
Football4 weeks ago
Rangers & Celtic ready for first SWPL derby showdown
-
Sport4 weeks ago
Boxing: World champion Nick Ball set for Liverpool homecoming against Ronny Rios
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Quantum ‘supersolid’ matter stirred using magnets
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Laser helps turn an electron into a coil of mass and charge
-
MMA3 weeks ago
‘Uncrowned queen’ Kayla Harrison tastes blood, wants UFC title run
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Gmail gets redesigned summary cards with more data & features
-
News3 weeks ago
Massive blasts in Beirut after renewed Israeli air strikes
-
News3 weeks ago
▶ Hamas Spent $1B on Tunnels Instead of Investing in a Future for Gaza’s People
-
News3 weeks ago
Navigating the News Void: Opportunities for Revitalization
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
A new kind of experiment at the Large Hadron Collider could unravel quantum reality
-
Technology1 month ago
Russia is building ground-based kamikaze robots out of old hoverboards
-
Football4 weeks ago
Why does Prince William support Aston Villa?
-
News4 weeks ago
‘Blacks for Trump’ and Pennsylvania progressives play for undecided voters
-
Sport3 weeks ago
Aaron Ramsdale: Southampton goalkeeper left Arsenal for more game time
-
MMA4 weeks ago
Dana White’s Contender Series 74 recap, analysis, winner grades
-
MMA4 weeks ago
Pereira vs. Rountree prediction: Champ chases legend status
-
Business3 weeks ago
When to tip and when not to tip
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Microphone made of atom-thick graphene could be used in smartphones
-
Womens Workouts1 month ago
3 Day Full Body Women’s Dumbbell Only Workout
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Musk faces SEC questions over X takeover
-
Sport3 weeks ago
Wales fall to second loss of WXV against Italy
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney renews blast at ‘gatekeeper’ platform owners
-
Money3 weeks ago
Wetherspoons issues update on closures – see the full list of five still at risk and 26 gone for good
-
Sport3 weeks ago
Man City ask for Premier League season to be DELAYED as Pep Guardiola escalates fixture pile-up row
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Why this is a golden age for life to thrive across the universe
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Quantum forces used to automatically assemble tiny device
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
ITER: Is the world’s biggest fusion experiment dead after new delay to 2035?
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
A slight curve helps rocks make the biggest splash
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Nuclear fusion experiment overcomes two key operating hurdles
-
News1 month ago
▶️ Hamas in the West Bank: Rising Support and Deadly Attacks You Might Not Know About
-
Business4 weeks ago
DoJ accuses Donald Trump of ‘private criminal effort’ to overturn 2020 election
-
News4 weeks ago
Woman who died of cancer ‘was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP’
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Microsoft just dropped Drasi, and it could change how we handle big data
-
MMA3 weeks ago
Ketlen Vieira vs. Kayla Harrison pick, start time, odds: UFC 307
-
Sport4 weeks ago
2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka
-
News4 weeks ago
Cornell is about to deport a student over Palestine activism
-
Technology1 month ago
Meta has a major opportunity to win the AI hardware race
-
Technology1 month ago
Why Machines Learn: A clever primer makes sense of what makes AI possible
-
News4 weeks ago
Rwanda restricts funeral sizes following outbreak
-
Sport4 weeks ago
China Open: Carlos Alcaraz recovers to beat Jannik Sinner in dramatic final
-
Sport4 weeks ago
Sturm Graz: How Austrians ended Red Bull’s title dominance
-
MMA3 weeks ago
‘I was fighting on automatic pilot’ at UFC 306
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
New documentary explores actor Christopher Reeve’s life and legacy
-
Technology4 weeks ago
This AI video generator can melt, crush, blow up, or turn anything into cake
-
Business4 weeks ago
Sterling slides after Bailey says BoE could be ‘a bit more aggressive’ on rates
-
Technology3 weeks ago
Check, Remote, and Gusto discuss the future of work at Disrupt 2024
-
News3 weeks ago
Family plans to honor hurricane victim using logs from fallen tree that killed him
-
Business3 weeks ago
The search for Japan’s ‘lost’ art
-
Technology3 weeks ago
The best budget robot vacuums for 2024
-
Sport3 weeks ago
Coco Gauff stages superb comeback to reach China Open final
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Nerve fibres in the brain could generate quantum entanglement
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
Time travel sci-fi novel is a rip-roaringly good thought experiment
-
Science & Environment1 month ago
How to wrap your mind around the real multiverse
-
MMA4 weeks ago
Julianna Peña trashes Raquel Pennington’s behavior as champ
-
News4 weeks ago
German Car Company Declares Bankruptcy – 200 Employees Lose Their Jobs
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Texas is suing TikTok for allegedly violating its new child privacy law
-
News3 weeks ago
Hull KR 10-8 Warrington Wolves – Robins reach first Super League Grand Final
-
Business4 weeks ago
Stocks Tumble in Japan After Party’s Election of New Prime Minister
-
Business4 weeks ago
how UniCredit built its Commerzbank stake
-
Business4 weeks ago
Bank of England warns of ‘future stress’ from hedge fund bets against US Treasuries
-
Business4 weeks ago
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she needs to raise £20bn. How might she do it?
-
News1 month ago
▶️ Media Bias: How They Spin Attack on Hezbollah and Ignore the Reality
-
MMA4 weeks ago
Kayla Harrison gets involved in nasty war of words with Julianna Pena and Ketlen Vieira
-
Health & fitness4 weeks ago
NHS surgeon who couldn’t find his scalpel cut patient’s chest open with the penknife he used to slice up his lunch
-
Business3 weeks ago
Head of UK Competition Appeal Tribunal to step down after rebuke for serious misconduct
-
MMA3 weeks ago
Pereira vs. Rountree preview show live stream
-
Technology3 weeks ago
The best shows on Max (formerly HBO Max) right now
-
Technology3 weeks ago
If you’ve ever considered smart glasses, this Amazon deal is for you
-
MMA3 weeks ago
‘Dirt decision’: Conor McGregor, pros react to Jose Aldo’s razor-thin loss at UFC 307
-
Sport4 weeks ago
World’s sexiest referee Claudia Romani shows off incredible figure in animal print bikini on South Beach
-
Football4 weeks ago
Simo Valakari: New St Johnstone boss says Scotland special in his heart
-
Technology4 weeks ago
J.B. Hunt and UP.Labs launch venture lab to build logistics startups
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Apple iPhone 16 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S24+
-
Politics4 weeks ago
Rosie Duffield’s savage departure raises difficult questions for Keir Starmer. He’d be foolish to ignore them | Gaby Hinsliff
-
MMA3 weeks ago
UFC 307 preview show: Will Alex Pereira’s wild ride continue, or does Khalil Rountree shock the world?
-
Business3 weeks ago
Stark difference in UK and Ireland’s budgets
-
Money3 weeks ago
Pub selling Britain’s ‘CHEAPEST’ pints for just £2.60 – but you’ll have to follow super-strict rules to get in
-
Sport4 weeks ago
Premiership Women’s Rugby: Exeter Chiefs boss unhappy with WXV clash
-
Science & Environment4 weeks ago
Markets watch for dangers of further escalation
-
Technology4 weeks ago
Amazon’s Ring just doubled the price of its alarm monitoring service for grandfathered customers
-
Technology4 weeks ago
SingleStore’s BryteFlow acquisition targets data integration
-
Technology3 weeks ago
OpenAI secured more billions, but there’s still capital left for other startups
-
Sport3 weeks ago
WXV1: Canada 21-8 Ireland – Hosts make it two wins from two
-
News1 month ago
Our millionaire neighbour blocks us from using public footpath & screams at us in street.. it’s like living in a WARZONE – WordupNews
-
MMA4 weeks ago
Alex Pereira faces ‘trap game’ vs. Khalil Rountree
-
Business4 weeks ago
Top shale boss says US ‘unusually vulnerable’ to Middle East oil shock
-
News4 weeks ago
Liverpool secure win over Bologna on a night that shows this format might work
You must be logged in to post a comment Login