School say they can’t afford to spend the notional £6000 or find a Ta

[CrookCrane]

My DC has a report from an OT specifying various support and TA time required in school. I have requested an EHC needs assessment and in the meantime spoke to school about what they could do straight away with the £6000 they’re supposed to spend from their own budget. They said they can’t afford to do any of the stuff that requires staff time nor could they recruit a TA anyway because it’s really hard to find them, but the SENCO will speak to the head and get back to me.
Where should I go from here?

They might be able to access emergency funding to bridge the gap until the EHCP is issued ( though that wouldn't solve the recruitment issue). DD's school is trying to get this for her, but I suspect the threshold is quite high.

I did ask them to apply for High Needs Funding, I’m not sure if that’s the same thing and the SENCO said “I think that’s all stopped now”. She did say she’d check.

Realistically without an EHCP 1:1 support is unlikely to be provided. High needs top up funding does still exist, but isn’t likely to be quick even if the school are successful in applying

The best option is to focus on the EHCP as that is the only way to guarantee specific support. Where are you in the EHCNA process?

I’ve only just requested the needs assessment. I’m finding it all so frustrating! So if they do issue the EHCP and it only has the top up funding. Could school carry on saying they don’t have the £6000 to spend? Which will mean not all of the support stated in the EHCP will happen?
I’ve emailed my County Councillor to ask about High Needs Funding locally and why a school might think it’s been withdrawn.
School don’t want to do anything because behaviour isn’t an issue, which they pretty much admitted.

So if they do issue the EHCP and it only has the top up funding. Could school carry on saying they don’t have the £6000 to spend? Which will mean not all of the support stated in the EHCP will happen?

If the EHCP is correctly written i.e. detailed, specified and quantified then the provision in section F must be provided. If it isn’t you can enforce it, via judicial review if necessary. The funding won’t be your concern, if the school require more they need to speak to the LA. EHCPs can be fully funded. However, if it is vague and woolly it isn’t enforceable.

Make sure the LA stick to the timescales. They must inform you by week 6 whether they are going to assess or not.

Thank you. I do feel sorry for the school staff but at the same time the funding issues aren’t my problem of course, I just want the best for my DC. I suspect they’ll refuse to assess because he’s managing academically. I’ve started reading the IPSEA guide to appealing so I’ll make a start on the appeal while I wait for their decision. I also need to find a solicitor that will work under legal aid, in case they’re needed, so far the one I tried said they’re up to capacity for education. I suspect they wouldn’t have said that if I was self funding.

It might also be worth considering an advocate. Fiona Slomovic and Nigel Pugh have been well spoken off in the past.

When/if you need to you could try Simpson Millar, Coram, Sinclairslaw, Watkin’s, Irwin Mitchell, SEN Support solicitors, Cartwright King, Bailey Wright, Harrow Law Centre and Just for Kids. No point asking now as they won’t take you on yet.

If you do go down the advocate route, choose carefully, they aren’t regulated and the advice some of them give is questionable. You can’t use legal aid for them either.

@Thatsnotmycar This is all so helpful, thank you! Any chance you could recommend an EP in either Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire or the North East?

I’ve never heard of advocates for this kind of thing so that’s great, thank you! I’ll have a read up.

You could try Leanne Short, Paul Kelly, Marina Gouzouli-Allen, Jonathan Middleton, Charles Ward.

Brilliant thanks! I have tried Charles Ward who said he’s no longer taking on reports for EHCP’s. I haven’t heard of any of the others though so I’ll get emailing today.