This is the thing though, this is where I think the ass covering & lying comes in lougle
I have never believed that they assessed our original application properly - first person I spoke with in the SA office after receiving our email offer of a school, sounded really puzzled when she pulled up our file, & agreed that it looked like something had gone wrong & to leave it to them & they would get back to me.
I then get an email from the head honcho telling me otherwise & insisting that both forms I submitted were correctly assessed together, including the medical evidence.
Yet the paperwork clearly said that postal applications will get a postal reply & online applications will get an email reply - our email reply started off with - thank you for your online application, which was an incorrect & incomplete form, as thanks to their website not working properly with our MAC, I couldn't fill it in properly - the form wouldn't accept the correct form of DDs name & kept changing it, allowed only one school choice, couldn't attach medical evidence, covering letter etc etc.
The email referred to DD by the abbreviated version of her name that the online form changed it to.
This formed part of our original complaint & why on the advice of a friend who had the same problem a couple of years earlier & it was sorted out by her MP, we asked our MP for help. This seemed to get backs up & make the situation worse, though by appeal stage I realised I was on a hiding to nowhere with this point & dropped it in favour of fighting the appeal mainly on the medical need grounds - I had already been told by SA that only Statemented DCS were accepted as medical need at application stage anyway, so seemed no point pursuing this point.
During our LGO complaint, this came up again & the LAs response was that I must have misheard, or misunderstood & that they hadn't told me this - but they definitely did - my hands cramp up at times & as a result I had the phone on loud speaker - DH was in the room with me & he heard it too
I noticed when reading the LAs response to the LGOs request for paperwork, that the LGO noted there was no email or written response from the CCP as regards the medical need assessment & that the LA had told the LGO the decision was "verbal communication"
When I submitted my medical needs waiting list request, I half expected them to refuse it, as I had read that they only accept this if there's a change in circumstances etc. I was prepared to argue this point, as due to other issues with DDs first primary school, I had since taken DD to see a specialist consultant in her condition in London, who was fantastic - this resulted in a long point by point letter listing all DDs problems & what she needed. This wasn't actually a new diagnosis, just a better letter, but I intended to argue this point if I had too - I didn't need to.
But DDs original letter of diagnosis was clear enough, mentioned that DD clearly suffered with "marked fatigue" & several other relevant symptoms & referred to a specialist charity organisation for further information & advice, whose information booklets I submitted first time round along with NHS print outs listing all the symptoms, OT report etc
So there was really no real change, just an additional letter, which also mentioned the school by name, plus an extra OT & GP letter supporting her need for our closest school & a point by point break down from me as to why she needs this school. The info was all the same, same diagnosis, same symptoms, same needs were clear in the paperwork submitted, but obviously in the circumstances of us losing our appeal, I had really gone to town on making it idiot proof.
We also know for fact thanks to friends in the right places, that the SA website went live without the proper checks & there was a lot of problems with it as a result & also that they have been in trouble for this before - but obviously that's not something we can use, but it does explain the ass covering that appears to be going on.
I really don't know what to expect now to be honest - if they were fair, then you would be right titchy but nothing they have done so far has been fair, so I won't hold my breath - but no way in hell am I just going to roll over with this