Parents of children with special needs have to fight to get a statutory assessment and then find the process to be stressful and alienating, the Audit Commission has found.
Even after assessment, children with similar needs then receive different levels of support depending on where they live, their school and the assertiveness of their parents.
The commission has recommended a high-level review to consider options for reform to provide a "fairer, more efficient and more responsive" system.
It condemned the current process as costly and slow with a statement taking six months to produce and costing £2,500.
Parents and children complained that statements gave little guarantee that a child would receive the support needed in school because of weak monitoring arrangements and shortfalls in social services.
Although the government has made a number of recent changes, including the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, there remain tensions in the statutory framework, said the report.
- Go to www.audit-commission.gov.uk
Prince's Trust: One in ten young people feel life is meaningless
Oldham appoints joint director despite DCSF warning
Baby P: Sharon Shoesmith to appeal against Haringey dismissal
Details of government consultations
09 January 2009
Government Legislation
02 December 2008
Private Member Bills
21 November 2008
