Moving country with SEN statement

[User65412]

Hi all, hoping you can help.
I'm trying to hell my mum advocate for her adopted daughter (my sister, though much younger) at her secondary school.
She has a broad range of needs including foetal alcohol syndrome and at least one genetic disorder. Anyway, she finally received a statement of SEN from a Welsh primary in year 6. She's now in year 9 and has had next to no support. I'm a teacher myself in England but I don't understand how a Welsh statement translates to an English Ehcp. The school are saying they didn't receive the statement until this year (!) and that she doesn't have an Ehcp because she has that.
They've cancelled countless meetings, ignored emails etc and my mum is absolutely desperate. I've offered to help her write a letter but I need clarification on the Wales/England aspect.
Thanks all.

Sorry I should have said, she's now in an English secondary.

Where does your sister live? I’m not clear whether she lives in Wales but attends an English school or whether she lives in England. That is the important bit that will determine the replies.

Ah yes of course - she lives in Wales!

If DS lives in Wales she cannot have an EHCP.

The provision specified and quantified in part 3 of the Statement of SEN must be provided. The LA DS lives in are ultimately responsible for ensuring the provision is provided. If it isn’t being implemented your DM can enforce it, via judicial review if necessary. Unfortunately if the wording is vague and woolly it isn’t enforceable and DM should try to tighten it up via a review.

The school should have had the Statement of SEN before this year. There should also have been annual reviews - the LA is responsible for ensuring one is held.

The Statement of SEN will shortly be transferred to an IDP as the Welsh ALN system is currently being reformed similar to how the English SEN system changed from Statement of SEN to EHCP.

SNAP Cymru provide a similar service for Wales that IPSEA and SOSSEN provide in England, it is worth looking at their website.

Thank you @FloatingBean that's extremely helpful.
So, if I'm understanding correctly, the fact that it's a 'Welsh' statement makes no difference and the English LA in which DS attends school should still be hosting the annual reviews etc? And it should basically work in the same way as an EHCP as I know it?

No, the LA DS lives in are the ones responsible for ensuring provision is provided and annual reviews are held.

Statements of SEN work similar to EHCPs, they aren’t quite the same and the legislation is different, but for the purpose of the provision being provided it is the same - anything specified and quantified in Part 3 (the equivalent to section F of an EHCP) must be provided and can be enforced if it isn’t.

OK - thank you. This is perhaps why she is falling down the gap. The SENDCO at the school is doing nothing, saying that it's up to the Welsh family liason officer to sort. The SEN team at the Welsh LA haven't replied to an email in months. The whole situation is awful.
My mum hasn't mentioned anything to me until now - I presumed there was support in place but apparently not. I was the SENDCO at my last school and held many annual reviews etc and I just can't understand where it's all gone wrong here. I'm still trying to gather the full picture and understand what exactly is happening but I haven't come across this English/Welsh situation before so thank you for clarifying.

Email the LA’s Director of Children’s Services informing them of the situation and threatening judicial review unless an annual review is held ASAP and everything specified and quantified in Part 3 is provided. If that fails you will need a pre-action letter. In England SOSSEN would do these for a reasonably price, I am not aware of any charity who does them in Wales so you will need a solicitor preferably one with a legal aid contract with experience of JR for education matters.

Thanks all. On further investigation, it doesn't seem that even has a statement yet. She was put forward for assessment in year 6. Last July, mum received a letter from the Welsh LA saying that DS has ALN and a JAM meeting would be set up to decide what provision is needed. This meeting has not been organised. My mum thought this acknowledgement of ALN was an official statement of SEN.
The school say they haven't heard from the Welsh LA since then, neither has my mum. She has shown me numerous emails she's send to LA, a family liason officer from the LA and DS's social worker with not one reply. It breaks my heart that no-one has explained all of this to her and she has just been passed from one service to another.
I'm figuring out next steps but I think an email to children's services is a good start.

If there isn’t a Statement of SEN it would now be an IDP as there can’t be new Statements of SEN. It is worth reading the new ALN code as it covers DC living in Wales attending schools in England - I think it is section 18.6 but couldn’t be certain without looking.