Special educational needs and the law: Some practical implications

This article focuses on the law relating to special educational needs. It discusses the impact which the growth in the area of parental rights has had on LEA administrative and executive functions. It highlights varying circumstances leading up to the processes of statutory assessment and statementing in which parents and the LEA may find themselves in a position of conflict and tension. This article provides an analysis of how one specific LEA has sought to respond to the burgeoning workload and associated pressures brought about by changes in educational legislation, regulations and case law and the general increase in the number of appeals lodged against it.