Permission to submit late evidence

[KOKOagainandagain]

I have had major problems finding an indi EP who could make the dates - hearing date clashes with Jewish holiday for one thing plus everyone seems to be mega busy and have not become less so over the last couple of months of phoning and emailing.

I now have a potential EP but she is not able to visit the school until term starts in September. Final evidence deadline is 1st Sept - 4 weeks before hearing. She can visit home to do formal assessment during the summer holidays and produce a first report which I can submit on time. She can then visit the school at the start of term and produce a second report around about a week and a half before the hearing date. She can also be a witness at the hearing.

She wants me to ask permission, from the LA, to submit a late report, before she commits. I strongly suspect they will say 'no' and my case will be buggered without an EP report. I thought I had to ask the Tribunal but not sure how. Do I file Request for Changes?

The LA have already sent in their EP. As my appeal specified what they may have missed in part 2 and so not provided for in part 3, they have now done this specific testing, found statistically significant difficulties and will amend accordingly. She was one of the good guys but she said that she is not able to specify or quantify.

I told the indi EP that even if the LA refused I would take it along to the hearing and ask the judge to allow it. She was concerned that at a recent hearing the judge had asked the LA for their permission rather than just ruling. If I have to ask the LA for permission can I put a paragraph that if they refuse I will ask tribunal to rule?

[Icimoi]

Strictly you need to ask the LA and send in a Request for Changes form. The tribunal likes you to have asked the LA first: if they consent, you then do the form explaining why the report will be late and attach their consent to it, and the tribunal will almost certainly rubber stamp it. If they don't reply within a few days, send in the application anyway, explaining that you've asked the LA and attaching a copy of your letter or email to them. And if they refuse, send in the application with your reasons for being late, but also respond to whatever reason they give for refusal. For example, if they say that it will prejudice them getting the report late, point out that they will have had the main report on time, this is just a supplementary report and that if they get it 10 days before the hearing that is ample time to read it. Emphasise that having the report will help the tribunal.

Has the LA EP said in writing that she can't specify or quantify, and has she said why? Obviously the law requires the LA to specify and quantify, they need recommendations from EPs etc to enable them to do that, so there is no reason either in legal or professional terms for the EP to refuse to do that. So if the reality is that the LA has told her not to, it would be helpful to get that in evidence for the tribunal.

[Ineedmorepatience]

I have been to 4 tribunals and at 2 of them the La turned up with late La Ep reports! And at one a late OT report!

They did generously give us a 5 day extension on a timescale for my Indie EP report too!

However my LA tell parents in meetings thst is doesnt matter if you just take things on the day as sendist always allow it!!

Dont know if that will help you at all though!

Good luck

[KOKOagainandagain]

Thanks icimoi - I've emailed the LA and copied in tribunal. I'll file a Request when consent arrives or if no consent is forthcoming I'll file a Request anyway.

The LA EP assessed and observed DS2 one day, scored up, and then visited home the next day to give feedback so nothing is in writing yet. She said that she will submit her report to the LA but that she can't specify even how many hours in total the statement should state.

Before the statement was issued the LA had agreed to 10 hours in class support specifically to use a token reward system. The provision in the statement does not specify and so the school interpretation of a 'TRS' was 2 minutes, twice a week. The school refused to work with me, despite the fact that I have successfully been using a TRS since it was first recommended 2 years ago. The EP still wasn't prepared to be specific and I expect phrases like 'access to' and 'throughout each day' in the next version of the WD.

I was also told by the NHS OT recently that their policy is to discharge as a matter of course and then refuse to accept referral between year 5 and year 7. DS2 had previously received support as he attended a school in the neighbouring LA and was visited in school termly. I asked whether the support would be delivered if it were in the statement. She actually said that statements were legal documents so they didn't specify and quantify I said what if an indi OT specifies and quantifies and she said it still wouldn't be delivered by the NHS and that lots of DC don't get the OT on the statement so I would need to make sure that the indi OT could deliver any support needed.

The LA have previously tried to argue that long-term targets in the statement could be vague and it was only short-term targets, set by the school, that needed to be specified and quantified. I have argued that the staff lack the expertise and experience to do so and are unable to seek external advice because in these parts the autism outreach service is diagnostic led and have refused his referral because he is going through assessment but Behavioural Support have also refused referral because he is most likely ASD. I have copied this to tribunal. e.g. the TRS has only been implemented in the past 2 weeks but the statement was finalised in January. I will repeat it when I file the Request.

Ineed - I had the final statement as the 1st version of the WD until the day of hearing when the LA showed up with 1 paper copy of a new version. LAs are allowed to flout deadlines but as a humble parent I have to dot the i's and cross the t's.

[Ineedmorepatience]

Yes that does seem to be the case!

I dont understand why SENDIST are not more strict with them!

My LA are allowing an appeal to go to court next week on a matter of unlawful wording!! Its a bloody disgrace, they will lose but why are they allowed to take it so far