The 2015 Report: Disability and SEN

We do not underestimate the challenge that these reforms place on local authorities and their partner agencies, and it is undeniable that the context for these reforms - a further round of local authority funding cuts in 2015/16, and structural reforms to the health and education systems that are still bedding in - is far from ideal.

But these reforms can and should be a key platform for delivering support that places children, young people and families at the centre of decision making, joins up services around the needs of the family not the needs of professionals, and supports young people through a positive journey into adult life.

The two key challenges we see for charities over the coming year are ensuring the legal framework is implemented; and that the cultural change embodied in the reforms becomes standard practice.

The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a whole new range of statutory requirements: clear information on services available through the local offer; joint commissioning arrangements between local authorities and clinical commissioning groups; and education, health and care (EHC) plans for children and young people with more significant SEN. It is essential that these new requirements are fully implemented - and charities have a key role to play in holding local authorities to account and supporting them to get it right.

Perhaps the most important elements of the act are the principles contained in section 19 around the participation of children and parents in decision making, and achieving the best educational and other outcomes. If we cannot get these principles embedded in the day-to-day practice of professionals, the other changes to the framework will not deliver the outcomes we want to see. There is still significant work to be done to change practice, but we have not met a professional who does not support the principles.

There is an equally significant change that needs to be built into the culture of organisations on a strategic level. It is vital services not only focus on the specific outcomes that a particular intervention can support, but also on their role in enabling young people to achieve their own aspirations and to live the life they want to live.

Key changes

• We need multi-agency assessments of services for disabled children and those with SEN. We await the publication of Ofsted's review and any recommendations it makes in this area
• Councils must give better consideration to the crossover between the Care Act (implem-ented in April 2015) and the Children and Families Act, in preparing children for adulthood
• Transitional arrangements must be monitored, so that children and young people moving to EHC plans get the person-centred, outcomes-focused plans to which they are entitled

Election manifesto pledge

Disabled children and those with additional needs have had their lives challenged by cuts in welfare benefits, cuts in family support services and fragmentation of services through the changes in health and education. A new government of whatever persuasion must make a pledge to look at people's lives in the round.

Christine Lenehan is director of the Council for Disabled Children