Legal Aid

[hoxtonbabe]

I am not sure what my solicitor is playing at, we are currently in the middle of a statement Appeal for my DS, he has sorted out one professional assesment, but when I asked about an Education Physc, he said no?!?

DS had and EP assesment 2.5 years ago whilst at Primary school, he is now in secondary school, grades going down, school not implementing provisions and all sorts, DS mind set and level of work is totally different now in secondary compared to primary school and would be a good idea for me/panel to have an idea to see where he is bearing in mind the school have kept no records of DS progress.

If I could fork out for this myself I would, as it would be easier but I do not have £800.

Should I push my solicitor for this or just leave it, I just want to make sure everything is covered and any other issues with my DS learning ability has not cropped up that could contribute to the current downturn.

thanks

You don't state which level of Legal aid your solicitor is acting for you under (different types = different rules) however as a start I would ask your solicitor to explain, in writing, exactly why the Edu Physc has been refused. Was it as a result of the solicitor feeling it wasn't necessary or has the Legal Aid not been granted to cover the cost of it and therefore the solicitor can't incur the cost as part of the Legal aid funding? Legal Aid will not always cover everything/all disbursments/reports.

If you are not satisfied with the reason the solicitor provides, they have a complaint process that you can use. If this is not satisfactory you could contact the Legal services commission (admin for Legal Aid) directly asking for further information about the reason for refusal.

hth