It is up to local authorities to decide how best to spend their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) budgets, based on an analysis of local need. The reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 were designed to make the SEND system less adversarial for parents and young people, as well as for local authorities. The process of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and plan development is designed to be collaborative, meaning that most disagreements should be resolved early on. Where disagreements persist, we have introduced a requirement to consider mediation, which has often proved effective in reducing the need to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. For example, in 2015, 75% of disagreements over EHC plans for which mediation sessions were held did not result in a Tribunal appeal in that year.<\/p>
<\/p>
The SEND Tribunal aims to be facilitative and accessible, so that it should not be necessary for either parents or local authorities to employ legal support when making or defending an appeal. No additional weight is given to evidence because it is presented by a lawyer and many parents and local authorities successfully pursue their case without legal representation.<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
The Department is currently conducting a Review of Disagreement Resolution Arrangements, as required by the 2014 Act, which will report to Parliament by 31st<\/sup> March 2017. The Review is looking at how the system of disagreement resolution is working for children, young people and their families, which includes enquiring about the costs incurred by both families and local authorities.<\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to restrict the amount spent by local authorities on legal support and advice in special educational needs and disability tribunals.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4404", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Tania Mathias"}
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], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/573646/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Effective drug education is essential in supporting prevention, and in addressing the problem of drug misuse. Education plays an important role in helping to ensure that young people have the information they need to make informed, healthy decisions and to keep themselves safe.<\/p> <\/p> Drug education is part of national curriculum science at key stage 2 and key stage 3. Provision in this area can be built on through personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.<\/p> <\/p> High quality PSHE can also play a vital role in developing the skills and attributes young people need to identify and manage risk and to stay safe. We believe that teachers are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and our approach is for schools to develop their own local PSHE programme to reflect the needs of their pupils, drawing on the resources and evidence provided by experts.<\/p> <\/p> We want to ensure that all schools are drawing on the best evidence available to deliver their PSHE. In March 2015, the Department published a \u2018Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education: a review of impact and best practice\u2019, which included the best evidence on what works in drugs education. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pshe-education-a-review-of-impact-and-effective-practice<\/a>.<\/p> <\/p> It is good practice for schools to involve parents when developing their PSHE policy and schools are encouraged to publish their curriculum online. There are also useful resources available to support parents in increasing their knowledge about the risks that pupils face, including those problems caused by illegal drugs.<\/p> <\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase awareness of the problems caused by illegal drugs in schools among (a) pupils and (b) parents.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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