Assurance sought from Gove on Home Access SEN

MP spares Home Access Funds

A month ago Martin Littler wrote a letter to Michael Gove MP, the Education Secretary, in his capacity as Chair of the British Assistive Technology Association (BATA). He asked him to spare the final tranche of funding of the for the Home Access Scheme – this is the money earmarked for learners with Special Needs who face the greatest challenges in getting online.

Result! Michael Gove has just replied guaranteeing that these learners will be included. This is remarkable given the threatened 25% cuts in his Department’s budget.
This is an early win for BATA whose first aim is to ensure that learners who need special help are included in all future government ICT initiatives.

OBE for special needs and technology expert Chris Stevens

Our very own Conference Organiser, Chris Stevens, received an OBE in the Honours list at the weekend. Chris was head of Inclusion Policy at Becta from 1996 until 2009. He led the special needs team through several re-organisations and changes of leadership and was respected for his honesty and integrity.

During his tenure, the special needs team worked on many high profile developments including Senco Forum, the CAP Project and the Home Access Project as well as smaller schemes of work such as art and mental health, Community Languages and ESOL.

Chris's own particular specialism was children and young people with severe learning difficulties and he drew widely on his experience as head of a special school so that work on policy was always informed by practice.

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