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Mon, 31 March 2025
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Justine Smith

Inside The Special Educational Needs Crisis Forcing Councils Into Bankruptcy
Education
Inside The Special Educational Needs Crisis Forcing Councils Into Bankruptcy
A dramatic increase in children judged to have special educational needs has created another dysfunctional market driving councils into insolvency, reports Justine Smith
Profit and loss: How children's care is failing our most vulnerable
Communities
By Justine Smith
Profit and loss: How children's care is failing our most vulnerable
Demand is rising, costs are spiralling and profit-maximising private equity and sovereign wealth funds are piling in. The children’s care business is a huge policy failure that is dragging councils towards bankruptcy but, as Justine Smith reports, it is vulnerable children that are the real victims.

Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
Salvaging the future: why Britain must build sustainably
Environment
By Justine Smith
Salvaging the future: why Britain must build sustainably
Britain has a housing crisis but building our way out of it will make it still harder to meet climate change targets. Justine Smith explores what can be done to provide enough homes at the least environmental cost. Illustration by Tracy Worrall
Can Labour solve the local government funding crisis?
Communities
By Justine Smith
Can Labour solve the local government funding crisis?
“All political parties in opposition love local government – it’s what happens when they get into government that counts,” says Stephen Houghton, Barnsley council leader and chair of the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (SIGOMA). 
Inside the 'barbaric' mental health units holding autistic adults and children
Health
By Justine Smith
Inside the "barbaric" mental health units holding autistic adults and children
Nearly 2,000 adults and hundreds of children with learning disabilities or autism are being held in mental health units, with an average stay of more than five years, despite repeated abuse scandals. Justine Smith reports
CAMHS crisis - the long wait for neuro assessments
Health
By Justine Smith
CAMHS crisis - the long wait for neuro assessments
In a follow up to our investigation in April, the House has learned thousands of children with suspected ADHD and autism are suffering “severe and irrevocable damage” to their futures, as they wait up to seven years for NHS help. Justine Smith reports.
Education Revolution - why aren't we teaching AI in schools?
Education
By Justine Smith
Education Revolution - why aren't we teaching AI in schools?
It’s becoming ever clearer that AI will shape every part of our future much sooner than we could have predicted, from how we work and live to how we fight disease and wage war. So why aren’t we teaching it in schools? Justine Smith reports. Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
Revealed: the postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care
Health
By Justine Smith
Revealed: the postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care
An FOI investigation by The House has uncovered a postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care, with some desperate young people waiting up to four years for help.