SEN annual review of statement - legalities

[dealingwithit]

I'm in Surrey (lucky me) you might have heard they got a terrible Ofsted for their SEN inspection. I can confirm that from personal experience they indeed deserved it

Right now I have been waiting for over two months for my sons statement to be amended after his annual review. At the review his speech therapy was halved. His OT was completely removed.

But what I wasn't told that all this was dropped from the day of the review. There has been no reissued of amended statement, no notice to cease, no right of appeal.

I phoned Virgin Care who told me this was legal.

Is it? I have complaints in with the LA and Virgin Care now. I know I'm going to get fobbed off. It's all been agreed evidently, behind my back. I was told I agreed to it, despite having a email trail chasing, asking if the provision had been dropped, if so was this legal. Why chase with emails what I had agreed to? No emails confirm it had been dropped or that it was legal to do so

I am not entirely clear which bits of the process have happened here so apologies if I am covering stuff you already know.

There should have been a meeting following which the head should have sent a report to the LA summarising the recommendations. You should have been invited to the meeting and sent a copy of the report.

Following this the LA should have sent you details of any amendments they were proposing and invited you to give your views. No changes should have been made to the provision received by your son at this stage as his original statement was still in force.

The LA then makes its final decision. It can amend the statement despite your objections. If it does so you are entitled to take the matter to the First Tier Tribunal for Special Needs and Disabilities. When sending you the amended statement the LA must notify you of your right to appeal and the time limit for doing so.

It does not sound like this process has been followed. In my view you need to make it clear, in writing, to the LA that you have NOT agreed to any changes and that, as they have not issued an amended statement, you expect them to continue to meet their legal responsibility to make provision for your son as per his existing statement. Be clear that you are making a formal complaint about the LA's failure to meet its statutory responsibilities and that you want appropriate redress for the fact that your son has not been receiving the agreed provision for the last two months.

I wasn't given a copy of the report that went to the LA. I asked for it but my email was ignored. At the AR I was asked for my thoughts, but every time I said I'm happy the senco said 'but the professional reports says.... so that's that' I stopped giving my views as she just cut off and dismissed everything I said. There was no 'I will write that down' it was all a done deal.

The school sent their report in and that's as far as it's gone. It's hit the la but nothing has comeback

I wasn't given a copy of the report that went to the LA. I asked for it but my email was ignored. At the AR I was asked for my thoughts, but every time I said I'm happy the senco said 'but the professional reports says.... so that's that' I stopped giving my views as she just cut off and dismissed everything I said. There was no 'I will write that down' it was all a done deal.

The school sent their report in and that's as far as it's gone. It's hit the la but nothing has comeback

Sorry I said 'I'm not happy' and was just shut down with 'but the therapist has said......'

If they did not send a copy of the report to you within 2 weeks of the meeting that is a breach of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 regulation 20(4). The LA was required to notify you of its decision on amending the statement within 4 weeks of the meeting (regulation 10). If they wished to amend the plan they were required to send you a draft of the amended plan and give you at least 15 days to object (regulation 22(2)). They then had to send you the finalised plan (regulation 22(3)) or notice that they had decided not to amend the plan (regulation 22(4)). In either case they also had send you information about your right to appeal (regulation 22(5)).

It sounds like they have missed some or all of the steps. That means the original statement is still in force and the LA is required, by law, to ensure that your son receives the provision set out in that statement.

You have to go through their complaints process first, hence my suggestion that you lodge a formal complaint. If you don't get a satisfactory response from that you can take the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman or the First Tier Tribunal for SEND. I would imagine Ofsted would also be interested in what appears to be blatant disregard for the law and regulations.

Thank you for that. Is there a central email contact for Ofsted on matters like this? The school was asked by me to send me the report they sent to Ofsted, but school just ignore what they don't want to hear. I have tried complaining to school before but that why I just put formal complaint stage one to both Virgin Care and the LA this time. I will forward my complaint to Ofsted and add the part about not being included in the report from the School not being cc'd to me

This has got me thinking. The 1st amendment was on the 11/11/15 and the AR was on the 31/11/16 which Ipsea has told me is also illegal. I asked the school (all via email) that was ignored too