Really need some advice re awful LA behaviour and EHCP delays

[blackgreenandgrey]

posting here for traffic and could do with some wise words re next steps:

• child has complex needs. mainstream placement broke down last autumn, since then not in school as mainstream won't allow them in as they cannot meet need.
• did parental EHCP request and that sailed through initially. We had a very detailed EP report making a clear case for a specialist setting (class sizes of max 5 etc) and LA agreed to issue. Plan due in Feb.
• multiple schools were consulted, all specialist settings. Only one said they can meet need. It's an independent setting and £££.
• case went to panel and it was decided that the placement is an 'efficient use of public resources' or word to that effect. Plan not finalised, and no alternatives offered and impossible to get hold of anyone in the LA. Emails ignored, phone calls not returned.
• Sent IPSEA template email about failure to finalise and threat of JR to all people with power in the EHCP team, to the directors of education and children's services and gave them a week to respond and to finalise. I also contacted my MP and the local councillor for education.

Not a single response, not even an acknowledgement of my email. Of course, no final plan either.

Anyone dealt with someone like that? I am so fed up by these people in the LA who think they are above the law. I am so worn down by it all. It's hugely stressful having a child excluded for education for so long. The EHCP is almost 3 months overdue and nobody cares. Anyone been in a similar situation. Is there anything else we can try or do we really need the solicitors for a JR (Sossen have a wait and we are on a tight time line with only very few places left in the school who offered us a place so would probably have to fund it for speed). If anyone has any other ideas please hit me. I will not go to the press or so before anyone suggests that. Not for me, nor for my child.

I'm guessing you're in Surrey?

Nope, further North. I think this shit show is common all over England :(

Have you submitted a formal stage 1 complaint through their corporate complaints procedure?
MP letter?

Sorry I don't feel I can offer advice right now but sending solidarity. I have EHCPs for two of my children on the go. The gaslighting from the LA and the schools have broken me 😔.

Not done the complaint. I know people who did it stage 1, then stage 2. all upheld and still no plan and it will take too long. We are going to lose the placement and nothing will change. We need some plan to getting sort ASAP if that makes sense.

MP letter done. He ignored me too 🤬

If the threat of JR hasn’t worked, you need a pre-action letter, I’m afraid. As you said, the normal complaint process timescales take too long, so it isn’t a suitable remedy.

If DC is on the roll of the mainstream, the school can’t lawfully say they won’t allow them to attend unless they are formally suspending/permanently excluding DC.

Is the independent school a wholly independent school or a section 41 independent?

Is DC compulsory school age?

@StrivingForSleep wholly independently, not a section 41 school. Does this make a difference given there is no other offer and no other school can meet need?

Compulsory school age. Supposed to start GCSEs in Sept but that may all go out of the window now. He is very bright, just very unwell mentally and unable to cope in MS. mainstream has referred to a PRU but currently full. No idea if we are technically excluded. Return is impossible due to very poor MH 😔

Make a formal complaint and if things aren't resolved, take it all the way to the local government ombudsman. Get your local councillor and MP involved.

I do feel for the people trying to manage education budgets though. A former colleague who worked in education finance said years ago that if special education needs increased at the rate it was going, it would take the entire education budget to fund the specified provision. Over a decades of real-terms cuts has got us to this position.

My LEA has a shortfall of £55m between identified special education needs and available funding.

And we pay the 4th highest council tax in the UK.

Section 41 independents can be named even if they object, so the school couldn’t withdraw the offer like wholly independent schools can because the LA (or Tribunal) could name the s41 school even if they object.

Separate to the EHCP process, if DS can’t attend school, the LA has a duty to ensure DS still receives a suitable full time education. Have you requested alternative provision from the LA? If so and the LA has refused/ignored you, a pre-action letter can cover this too.

Complaining to the LA then going to the LGO takes too long.

@StrivingForSleep I requested education as he isn't in school but this got ignored too. They do as they like. I am more concerned though about getting the EHCP over the finishing line. Good to know though that we can include lack of education in the PAP letter. I will start some phone calls tomorrow regarding legal firms. Definitely do not want to go down the complaints route due to time constraints. I need them to finalise.

Just take it to the first tier tribunal… 95% of the time they decide for the appellant, no cost and you can represent yourself, have a read about it - send tribunal

The OP doesn’t yet have the right of appeal.

She can't, the EHCP is not finalised and that's what needs to happen in order to trigger the right of appeal. The LA are essentially withholding the parental appeal rights.

OP, as others have said it is time for a pre-action letter. If cost is an issue then the only other alternative is a complaint to the LGSCO (Local Government Ombudsman) which will be free but they will only pick up the case after you have made a formal so you'd need to do that first.

We’re in the NW and this is pretty much exactly what our LA did. The good news is that DS is finally in the £££ independent at the LA’s cost, and thriving.

I could quite happily have pushed the entire SEND team off a cliff at one point. It was a real edge-of-sanity experience.

There is no final plan, just a draft. You can only appeal a final plan and the LA are refusing to produce one.

Can I ask how you got the final plan? Did you have to do a PAP letter or even JR? In the NW too...

I get it's expensive. I would have been more than happy with the LA maintained alternative but they won't give us a place there either (school saying DC's needs are too complex and that they are full).

I'll send a link to the support thread.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/5309128-ehcp-support-thread-no-5?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share you don't need traffic, you need expertise and experience.

tha @Needlenardlenoo

I hate to be a downer, but EHCP's dont mean your child actually gets any education. The law is completely toothless. We've been through tribunal and won and the LA is in breach, but still nothing. They delay because it ultimately saves them money.
In your case, you are limited in options as the plan has not been finalised. Go to your MP, keep all notes, write a timeline and be prepared to fight.

You need to issue a PAP letter re the failure to issue an EHCP within 20 weeks of the process starting and the LA's failure to provide a suitable and full time alternative education to a child of compulsory school age who is unable to attend school (s.19 Education Act (1996)).

You don't have to have made a formal complaint first , but it is advisable to do so. Make sure you tell them a PAP letter in advance of JR proceedings will be the next step.

Getting your MP involved can also help.

I work in this area.

@FancyNewt Does a PAP letter issue by a solicitor usually sort it or do parents need to go down the route of the actual JR on top? Just trying to figure out what lies ahead.

I understand you want to focus on the ehcp, but trying to push the LA to put education in place now might move stuff foreard anyway (pru is full - do they not have an online school, tutors, other alternative provisions like farms you can do for an afternoon)

I am very sorry you are experiencing this mess they put our children through.

In the majority of cases, the pre-action letter works.

@HumaneMouseTrap if the LA is in breach of the Order, you can enforce it. Have you threatened JR, sent a pre-action letter, then pursued JR proceedings?