Outreach services provided by special schools for pupils withspecial educational needs are under threat from short-term funding,inspectors have warned.
Despite the availability of additional funds since 1999, annual fundingmeant almost half of services in the six local education authoritiessurveyed had closed, dropping from nine services in 2003/04 to five in2004/05.
Inclusion: The Impact of LEA Support and Outreach Services also foundpupils with complex special needs are failing to access support becauseschools have used money from local authorities for other purposes.
And the policy had resulted in poor monitoring of special educationalneeds services and pupils' performance.
- www.ofsted.gov.uk.
