A London council has unlawfully denied hundreds of children the right to be assessed for extra support at school.
Among about 700 children refused an assessment by Sutton was an autistic girl who had attempted suicide several times before her parents asked for help.
Councils are legally obliged to assess the special educational needs of children in their boroughs and to pay for any support necessary. The rate at which councils refuse assessments has risen in recent years as budgets have been cut.
Parents say that for four years Sutton used unlawful criteria to decide whether to do assessments. It said in letters to parents dating back to 2014, and in a document removed from its website last year, that the child must be in
