Do you think LA’s will use the long tribunal wait times to their advantage?

[SomethingsNotWrite]

We have a tribunal date set for the end of the year for a refusal to assess. However, our LA have to respond to the appeal by the end of this week.

The last appeal I did for refusal to assess, the hearing date was only 3 months away and the LA conceded weeks before their response was due but this time I’ve heard nothing at all.

The cynical side of me thinks the LA are going to use the long tribunal waiting times to their advantage (considering they can change their minds right up to the week before the hearing).

IMO their refusal to assess is indefensible as I had DD privately assessed by an EP and submitted a report confirming SEN and outlining her needs. I also want the LA to consult others during an assessment. I was hoping they would concede before the hearing but now I’m losing confidence they will.

Has anyone been through similar and did the LA concede before tribunal?

Sadly they do, yes.

LAs do sometimes concede prior to hearings though. Although many are forcing more all the way because it delays things even further.

It depends on the local authority. Some LAs are known for avoiding tribunals while otherwise are well known for going to tribunals with top lawyers/spending more than Ehcp costs on fighting parents in tribunals. I always ask these sort of questions in our local send group on facebook

Yes, I have a gut feeling they are going to take this right until the end point as the waiting times for hearings are a huge advantage to LAs. I honestly do not know how LAs get away with this sort of behaviour.

If you are interested you can see the statistics here. SNJ have an analysis of the results and comparisons to other years here. As you can see LAs are increasingly forcing cases to go all the way. LAs will continue while ever there are no serious repercussions for them, unfortunately.

I would be very interested in those statistics, thank you. If the LA respond with defending the refusal, is it worth making a complaint to the LA? The evidence I’ve sent them is clear that DD meets the test of the law. The LA refused to assess because DDs Senco does not agree an assessment is needed. I don’t think this is a viable reason for refusal?

96% of those tribunals were in the appellants favour. How is this allowed? I’m so angry at the SEN system; it simply does not work.

You’re right, that’s not a lawful reason to refuse to assess.

You can complain, but it is highly unlikely to change anything, sadly. The exception is where it is something within the LGO’s remit. In that case you can go through the LA’s complaints process and then complain to the LGO. Unfortunately, they can’t investigate where there is a remedy via SENDIST. You can read more on what they can and can’t look at here.

It’s extremely frustrating as the only reason they will respond with a defence is to delay. I may attempt a formal complaint in order to re iterate the law and their excuses for refusal are trivial. I have made a real pain of myself to our LA because I find their policies and tactics outrageous. This will be the second formal complaint I will have made to them in six months (different cases).