SEND parents say they could be locked out of discussions that affect their children’s schooling and access to other local services.
Some claim to have been told they cannot publicly campaign on issues related to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or post on their own personal social media channels if they want to lead parent carer forums (PCFs) that work with local authority officials to influence services for children in the area.
They fear they will be penalised if they publicly criticise the Government’s sweeping reforms, with one campaign group arguing that they are being “silenced”.
The Government is implementing major changes to the SEND system in England to tackle escalating costs that have put intense pressure on cash-strapped councils. Ministers are wiping £5bn in SEND deficits following warnings that eight in 10 English councils faced bankruptcy.
Parents can join PCFs in local authorities that enable them to work with officials to shape SEND services for children and young people. But Contact, the charity that administers Government funding for these groups, has issued updated guidance that bars forum leaders from some campaigning activity in their personal lives.
It comes after ministers published plans in February that will shake up England’s SEND system and reduce the number of children eligible for education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
These legal documents identify a pupil’s needs and set out what support they should receive. Some parents fear their children could lose support under the new system but Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has sought to assure them that it means “more children will receive support”.
Contact denied it was silencing parents and said its guidance was intended to prevent conflicts of interest.
Many parents who lead PCFs in local authorities also campaign in some capacity and have raised concerns about the guidance, according to Special Needs Jungle, a campaign and parent support group.
The i Paper understands Contact is working with two forums to resolve leadership problems caused by the updated guidance.
‘Wrong to block families from speaking out’
Renata Watts, co-director at Special Needs Jungle, argued the guidance tells parents of children with SEND that “if they want to represent other families, they may have to give up their right to publicly challenge Government policy, even on their own social media accounts”.
She said the guidance reads like a “warning shot” to “silence” families.
Watts, who has spent 13 years in leadership roles in the Hertfordshire PCF, while also campaigning nationally to improve services and rights for disabled children, said her local authority has never told her those activities are incompatible.
Watts, who has been publicly recognised for her contribution to service development, said questions have been raised about where the guidance has come from since Contact is funded by the Department for Education (DfE).
The DfE stood by the guidance when approached by The i Paper, saying it would allow PCFs to carry out their role “effectively”.
Contact gives a grant of up to £17,500 to one PCF in each local authority area in England.
Watts said: “Guidance that seeks to restrict the activities of parent representatives outside their forum role sends a deeply troubling message.”
She said: “If parent carers are being told that they are welcome to have a voice, provided they do not use it to publicly challenge the system, then the agenda that is being pushed has nothing to do with protecting parent carer forums and everything to do with forcing compliance in order to control the narrative.”
She warned that if the guidance is not dropped or revised, PCFs “risk losing some of their most experienced volunteers and, with them, the trust of the families they exist to represent”.
Saqib Bhatti, the shadow education minister, also accused the Government of “silencing parents”, adding it is “wholly wrong” for some to be “blocked from speaking out, asking questions and highlighting the problems with Labour’s SEND plans”.
Caroline Voaden, the Liberal Democrats’ schools spokesperson, said: “Silencing the parents of SEND children, who are most active in the campaign for reform, makes a complete mockery of the process.”
What the guidance says
The guidance says parents and carers who represent the forums or are responsible for running them should not have a “leadership or representative role in a campaign group” or undertake “any public-facing campaigning or lobbying activity”.
One example says that they can choose to sign a petition in a personal capacity but cannot “give a media interview on behalf of the campaign group promoting that petition”.
The PCFs, which represent over 155,000 members, work alongside education, health, and social care providers and were set up to help ensure that local services meet the needs of SEND families.
Anna Bird, chief executive at Contact, said: “The guidance doesn’t silence parents or prevent parent carers from expressing views.
“Neither does it prevent forum members or representatives from campaigning, advocating, speaking publicly, joining campaign groups or lobbying for change in a personal capacity. Parent carers remain entirely free to organise, campaign and challenge decisions where they believe this is necessary.”
She said the principles in the guidance apply to parent carer forums “as organisations, not to individual parent carers”.
Bird added that the guidance was updated “in response to forums seeking greater clarity about how the requirements attached to their Department for Education funding” should be applied in practice and to help “manage potential conflicts of interest”, particularly among parents who may lead a forum and a campaign.
The DfE said: “This is a complete misrepresentation of Contact’s updated guidance, which is intended to support parent carer forums to carry out their role effectively and transparently.
“It is right that the guidance sets out that the forums – backed by public money – cannot be used to fund an individual campaign, which is not the same as open and ongoing engagement with families and the SEND sector.”
The DfE said it would continue to work with parents for its “transformative SEND reforms so everyone has confidence in the system we are building”.
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