Funding in a private school

[oxcat1]

Asking on behalf of a family member.

Her child has an EHCP that specifies 39 hours of 1:1 provision. This child is educated in a private school.
Until now, the child has always received the £6k 'notional funding', which has gone directly towards helping to pay for the full-time 1:1.

She is now changing schools, to another independent school, and at this stage the LEA have suddenly announced that she is not eligible for this notional funding, due to being in the private sector. That the family was only told of this change this week has caused massive problems as the child has already accepted a place for next year, and a dedicated 1:1 appointed.

Does anybody have any experience of this? I have a couple of questions...

Can an LEA withhold this notional funding from a child in the private sector?
Should that funding come from the private school, if it would normally come from the school itself?
Do private schools have any obligation to fund this, if the school is not named specifically on the EHCP?
Does an LEA have an obligation to inform affected families of such a significant change in policy, rather than leave it to the renewal stage?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Can an LEA withhold this notional funding from a child in the private sector?

LEAs don't have access to the notional funding. It is from central government allocated to maintained schools according to a national funding formula. Independent or private schools do not receive this funding.
If there was an agreement that the LEA would top up funding for 1:1 support in an independent setting I would suggest that this is agreed on a case by case basis and should parents choose to move schools the same funding agreement may not follow. It is my experience that whenever a pupil changes setting or is at a phase change ( junior to secondary) the LEA may exercise their right to review funding and placement.

Should that funding come from the private school, if it would normally come from the school itself?
No! Private schools do not have funding to support pupils other than that which comes with an EHCP and school fees.

Do private schools have any obligation to fund this, if the school is not named specifically on the EHCP?

There seems to be some information missing in this scenario....a pupil with an EHCP can only move schools if the receiving school has agreed they can meet need and provide the required support. Even if the LEA is not funding the placement they should consult with the school and if they agree they can meet need the LEA must be satisfied. But it doesn't mean the LEA will fund the place if they feel they could meet need within their own resources ie one of their own schools.
I would expect the school to detail the cost involved when a place is offered. it is then for the parents to negotiate with the LEA regarding funding.

Does an LEA have an obligation to inform affected families of such a significant change in policy, rather than leave it to the renewal stage?
I'm not clear what you mean by 'renewal stage'. An Annual Review should happen yearly but should only consider placement at times of transition or if the placement isn't working. If there is a change of placement the LEA will of course consider funding implications... they are duty bound to do so. Just because a package of support is agreed in one setting doesn't mean it automatically transfers to another.

Hope that helps?

This is really helpful - I am mother of the child involved. You seem very knowledgable and I'm really grateful for your thoughts.
I am Deputy Head of my daughters school (I was Deputy of her previous school too) - she is moving as I've taken on a new post. She is also transitioning from Year 2-3. Her annual review was due in April but the borough have been very slow to complete it despite having all the relevant paperwork. I chased them over and over again as I knew the new school needed to be named but no joy, so a few weeks before the end of the academic year, we had to make the decision to move her into my new school (she's got a place starting in September).
They have acknowledged that her needs have not changed and have approved the new school but are saying that they won't any longer provide the notional funding so have drastically cut the existing budget. She had always received the higher level funding (we had been told that private schools get an hourly rate of £11 whereas state schools get £14). They have now said they intend to reduce her to the lower rate despite her needs having not changed at all.
Thank you for your help!!

I see your predicament..... and whilst I understand where you are coming from I can also see why the LEA have acted as they have. Were they aware at the annual review that you intended to move your child? I would have hoped that it would have been at that point they would have informed you that any funding agreement would not automatically transfer to another placement.
I would suggest that you've been very fortunate to have received the equivalent of the notional funding up to now. Any change in personal/ management at LEA can impact on these type of decisions that are made on individual cases and with LEAs coming under increasing pressure to cut spending means they will take any opportunity to review costs.
I hope it works out for you and good luck in your new job!

Thanks so much for all that help, @Haveasay.

From your experience, it is unusual for a private pupil to receive the notional funding then, as part of their package?

Also, have you any other explanation for the two different rates in the 1:1? She was told it was for private vs. state, but then later told it was because the child's needs were high, implying the rates were condition-dependent?

One other thing that has also surprised me is the complete lack of any explanation. My relative simply received an email with the final figure, with no explanation at all of how it has been arrived at or what numbers have been used in the calculations. I keep thinking of the mantra from my school days - 'show your workings' - and wonder why they don't? Given the child was receiving £22k, to reduce it to £10k, and now £15k on appeal, I feel the family should be given some explanation of how the figures can change so much, whilst they acknowledge the child's needs have not?

Just jumping on @catkings123 's thread!

In my experience the local authority pay full costs of a placement at an independent school,which would include the cost of 1:1 support at their LEA rate, where the school is named on the EHCP. In my experience this is often as an outcome of a Tribunal.
In some cases LEAs will come to an agreement to part- fund and may pay the SEN element and parents pay fees or LEA pay for some SEN support and parents pay the short fall. However this type of agreement is becoming less frequent.
Where an LEA are of the view that needs can be met in a maintained setting they may not pay anything towards support or placement in the independent sector and will record on the EHCP "parents have made their own arrangements. Should the situation arise whereby the parents can no longer fund the placement it is the view of the LEA that x's needs could be met at X school"
I cannot comment on the two different rates for 1:1 support....I have not come across it before. Each LEA has their own way of determining levels of funding and indeed how they record levels of support/provision.
As I said before, we work with 16 different authorities who all write EHCPs differently, identify support/ provision differently and determine/ record funding differently!!! It is a minefield!!
In regard to having no explanation I would contact the case officer. Although it won't be their decision they should be able to tell you why the level of funding has changed.

You need to push the LA to complete the annual review process and, if necessary, to amend the EHCP. The parent should point out to the LA that, by law, they had to send a formal decision letter within four weeks of the annual review meeting and ask for that letter immediately - if it isn't sent within a few days they should threaten judicial review proceedings. There's information about judicial review in the information sheet on this page - sossen.org.uk/information_sheets.php.

If the LA refuses to amend the EHCP, the parents should appeal to the tribunal. If they agree to amend, they must issue a draft amended EHCP without delay and finalise it within eight weeks. Again, if they fail to comply the parents should threaten judicial review.

The LA will only have to fund provision in the new school if it is named without reservation in section I of the EHCP, and of course if the provision is properly specified in section F. If either doesn't happen, the parents should appeal.

Just coming back to this. Thanks so much for your help @Haveasay and @Bibesia.

Do you have any idea where we would look to get an idea of how local LEA's work out their figures? @catkings123 has received an email with a final support figure in it, but there is no explanation of how that figure has been produced. This is particularly strange given it is 40% higher than the first figure they offered, and yet still 25% lower than her funding last year, but in all emails they acknowledge that the child's support needs are unchanged? Despite asking repeatedly, they will not explain where these figures are coming from, or why they are varying widely from one email to the next?

Is there anywhere where funding towards support is broken down really, really clearly?
Are support rates agreed nationally, or is it left to each LEA to decide how much they will pay?

This child receives full-time 1:1 support, but there are no costs other than the cost of full-time designated individual (i.e. no travel costs, therapy costs) etc. However, it would have been impossible to provide full-time 1:1 support at the original figure quoted, as it would have worked out as well, well below the NMW.

The child is at an independent school, but the parents pay all the school fees, so the cost to the LEA is just that of the support, which would presumably be the same whether the child was in the state or the private sector. Except they appear to pay less p/h for support in the private sector. Can that be valid?

There are a lot of questions in your post. I'll comment on those I feel I can:
Since all LEAs work out their funding differently I cannot direct you to one place where specific costs are identified. Only someone in your authority would be able to give you that information and in my experience most LEAs do not make that level of detail openly available in a public forum.
Where pupils receive 1:1 support there will be a local authority figure that they pay per hour. In general it tends to be on the low side and does not cover the full cost of employing someone and does not increase incrementally to reflect experience or continuity.
In my experience in an independent school we identify the cost of 1:1 support in our setting (And any other identified support) and inform parents and LEA what the support costs in our setting are. I have not come across LEAs saying how much they will pay for 1:1 support in an independent setting.
However there are many different ways LEAs fund pupils in our setting and there are cases where the LEA and parents do come to an agreement that the LEA will pay a specified sum of money towards the SEN support where it is not always clear what is covered in that sum.... if it doesn't cover all SEN costs parents then make up the difference.
Hope I've answered some of your points.

you are so kind @Haveasay, thank you.

I am a little confused though, what do you mean by 'in our setting'?

The LEA have quoted two pay rates, £14 p/h for 1:1 support in the state sector, and £11 p/h for 1:1 support in the private sector. You say you have never heard of that before? But to the best of your knowledge, it would be legal?

And, to ensure I have understood correctly, in your experience it is actually very common to agree that a child needs full-time school hours 1:1 support, but then pay a support figure which could not possibly employ an individual, even at NMW? (Not taking account that, of course, an individual qualified to provide support to a child with such severe difficulties is not likely to accept work at NMW).

And if that is correct, if an LEA agrees that a child needs full-time 1:1 support, but then does not pay enough to provide that, is the expectation that the parent will have to make up the shortfall? And they can do that regardless of the family's financial background? That seems incredible!

I can only comment from my experience so "in our setting" means what we do in my particular independent school. We quote the cost of support when parents or an LEA consult for a place.
I cannot comment on the legality of having two different rates for LSA support. it is not within my experience.
As I said. It is not uncommon for the rate allocated for LSA support in a maintained school not to fully cover the cost of employment and take account of paying more incrementally. The funding structure does not allow for that in the state sector.
Where a pupil is determined to require full time support the local authority should identify a school where their needs could be met. If this is in the maintained sector the costs would be covered in full by the local authority and the school. There would be no cost to parents. However if the family opt for private placement the local authority are not obliged to pay anything towards the support or placement since they are able to fulfil their obligation to meet that child's needs in one of their own schools.
In cases where families can argue that the needs cannot be met in a maintained school.... often through the tribunal process it is then local authority may negotiate. Or if they lose the tribunal the family get all the placement costs agreed.
I hope I'm making some sense!

This is wonderfully insightful. Do you have an email address you’d be prepared so we can discuss this more privately?

Pm'd you....I think!