I want to cry or scream. They are bastards.

[daisy5678]

I'm finally finishing my huge complaint against the council. It spans 5 years of incompetence so it's kinda long.

I thought it might be kind of cathartic to write, but it's just making me so miserable and angry. When you put all the incompetence together, it is truly breathtaking. Three refusals for Statutory Assessment, when every person involved with ds said he needed 100% 1:1 due to his extreme level of violence. 4 years of inappropriate provision, ignoring me and all the other professionals actually involved. 3 givings-in before Tribunal. Decisions that make no sense. Blatant disregard for SEN Code of Practice in every area.

Ex keeps saying yes, but move on; ds has what he needs now. Yes, he does - he has a great Statement and lots of appropriate therapy, but only because of me. The bastards who are supposed to make this process work actively make it not work for the child unless the parent pushes and pushes until they get close to breaking point .

Also, what really upsets me is having the write the impact of each little piece of the incompetence jigsaw. You know, because X and Y happened, ds didn't get Z and this means that he missed out etc. etc.

I also feel so at all the missed opportunities to offer him appropriate assessment and therapies. I shouldn't be, but I am. I am also that I didn't push more for dx and therapy at the start; I just wanted the Statement sorted.

And they've never ever apologised for anything . Even when backing down. That's what angers me the most. That, and the fact that they've done it and are still doing it to so many other poor buggers.

I thought that this would make me feel better. One huge complaint after the hundreds of hours that I've put in over the years. But it's not, and I'm starting to realise that nothing will because they can't give me back my lost hours or ds back his lost opportunities .

Starlight, thanks. I agree with your reasoning!

I can't decide though if Lingle's route would have been a better one for me. I've only ever worked on the paperwork etc. when J's been in bed, but staying up late to work on it has probably drained me of the energy he needs me to have to play/ run around etc. and also I could have been researching ways to help him iyswim.

Patsy, your tale doesn't surprise me. Which is bad!

Tis all finished and am getting someone clever to check it and then will copy and post it. It's longer than my bloody dissertation .

starlight - I defintely do not want to come across as trying to defend a sitution I think is grossly unfair (as does my ed psych relative). I cannot understand why society will not accept a fair share of the burden of proper provision for children with SN.

Well done on the FOI request and getting to the bottom of the budgeting issues in your case. That administrative incompetence is completely hopeless - how utterly frustrating.

I used to do child protection work for a LA and there was never enough money there either. Despite such widespread sentimentality about abused children there was rarely adequate resources to afford the best provision to help them or place them in alternative thereupeutic care. I also think care for older people is in a pretty desperate state too in some LAs, some outrageous lack of provision.

I don't have any particular answers, I'm sorry and outraged that people have to fight so hard for what they're entitled to, but think it is the only way to get anything or to effect change.

Givemesleep I feel fo you! Some days I cannot bear to look back on what might have been. You have achieved a lot fighting for your son. Perhaps writing a list of all the positives that have been aceived both by you and your son (and anyone who helped along the way) may help balance the feelings that have been stirred up.

Thanks, Magso - a lovely idea.

Information Commissioner's Office has upheld my complaint about the FOI request that they cocked up.

1-0 to me so far

That was the easy complaint though, tbh. The massive one will probably take a few weeks to read, let alone 'investigate' and respond to.

Well done!

Thanks

Am feeling calmer about it all now it's all been sent and my hard work is over. Also pleased that theirs is just beginning. Will take a looooonnnng time to read that complaint.

I've been reading this thread but not posted as I can't help at all but wanted to say WELL DONE YOU!
Make sure you let us know when it's 2-0.

Thanks and I will...if it happens!

You know... you've won already. Even if they wriggle out of everything and end up making you even crosser. Think of all the managers whose time and energies will be occupied dealing with this. Their short-term ability to be totally obstructive to other parents is definitely going to be hampered!

That is a very good point. Maybe they might even start staying past 3pm and maybe even working a full 5 day week in that department if everyone complains...or not.

Hi gmsasr. Glad you feel a liitle more at peace now you have put in your complaint. Who did you send the complaint to? Is someone independant going to oversee it?
We are on the start of the road of official complaints and possible litigation. I want an apology, an acknowledgement of how they have treated my ds and us-but dont suppose we will get one, as that means admitting liability.
I dream of making everyone involved squirm and being made to answer for their stupidity.
But, like you I am also overwhelmed at times at the missed opportunities for my ds and the damage that has occured over the years-nothing will ever put that right.
Just wanted to empathise. Please let us know how you get on. Take Care.

Thanks, Bigpants . I sent it in to Head of Children's Services but got a letter today to say that an underling is the named person in charge of dealing with it, Mr 150k p.a. clearly being too busy being important to deal with it himself

The best bit is that the underling is one of the (admittedly more minor) people being complained about but it makes no difference as anyone at Stage 1 will claim it's all been handled beautifully and I will just hold on till Stage 2 where an independent person will look.

Roll on Stage 3 for Local Govt Ombudsman which is where all this is headed, tbh.

I hope you get where you need to be too. Overwhelmed is the word. What happened with you, if you don't mind me asking?

giveme, they gave your complaint to someone who you have complained about is that even allowed?! Doesn't that in itself smack of incompetency

giveme

The best bit is that the underling is one of the (admittedly more minor) people being complained about

That's what they did to my complaint too. After everyone about whom I was complaining had investigated my complaint and found their own performance to have been exemplary I complained in person to my Local Councillor and the Council responded by passing the complaint to someone from a different Dept.

No doubt about it - as I predicted in thsi thread last month their contempt for your complaint will make you even more

i still think Educational negligence action is the way ahead with the evidence you already have - you need to watch the timescales if you ever want to go down that route.

Best wishes

No, thanks for the warning - it didn't make me angry, just amused!

I will look at the Ed. Negligence route, but money and lack of knowledge are holding me back. A positive LGO decision would probably push me in that direction though. What are the time limits? And how do you prove negligence in a case like mine? I can't prove what would have happened in the alternative, iyswim.

Bigcar they are more incompetent than all the incompetent incompetents in the world. But, from another perspective, they are actually really good at what they do because their aim is to save ££££££££££ and their system works for probably 99% of cases as parents back down. So they are probably less incompetent than fiendishly clever (and morally bankrupt, but now they can blame that on the country's literal bankruptcy...that wasn't true when all this began though!)

I think the limit is 3years but it may have changed to 7 after the Lottery rapist ruling?

You'd need to speak to a Personal Injury lawyer specialising in Ed Neg.

You need to prove that they failed to identify, assess or support his SENs and that led directly to damage to him or his prospects. Note the 'and'. It's a double test. They could have cheerfully ignored his SENs and if that caused no damage there would be no case to answer.

Obviously a good LGooutcome would strengthen your case. That's what I obatined before they settled out of Court.

the time limit is 3 years from when the child reaches 18.

See, I think part one is easy peasy to prove. However, part two is pretty impossible. It did lead to damage in that early intervention is key when dealing with autism but how can that be proved? Also, the school's kindness/ my persistence meant that he usually got what we asked for eventually. One of my arguments is that the right type of help wasn't provided but a) I didn't know he was autistic so didn't ask for autism-specific stuff so b) I didn't ask for it. Really difficult to prove.

Thanks both of you for the info.

You'd only be able to establish 'damage' by obtaining professional opinions that could compare the outcome now to the outcome had he had early intervention.

It was easier for us as DS had to repeat a couple of years of education and therefore would enter the job market a few years later and other considerations like this....

Probably a bit easier to prove when they are older rather than at your son's age.

Anyway - grit your teeth and give 'em hell. I shall never forgive the fuckwits that caused us such grief.

Hi, have just come on after a really loooong day, so will explain a bit more tomorrow. Good Night.

underling clearly can't be arsed to reply either. Complaints people keep writing to say the response isn't ready yet as the complaint is so 'complex'. I'm guessing that's code for 'far too bloody long - why have you written so much and sent us hundreds of pages of evidence to back up your claims that mean we can't wriggle out of it as you've evidenced it all?'

If I was them, I guess I'd also be getting legal advice.

Still pisses me off, all these weeks on, and also that whenever you ring the council, nobody answers.

Oh well.

....as the complaint is so 'complex'.

That's what happened to me too. I was then phoned and asked to 'cystalise' it - which i refused to do.

When they were seriously buggering me out I rang my Local Councillor to complain that his Council appeared unable to follow their own complaints procedure and respond within the prescribed time limits.

That approach worked wonders.

Perhaps you could do the same?

i did warn that the process will make you even madder about how you have been traeted.

Best wishes