Meeting with LA about proposed statement

[dammitjannette]

I have a meeting about the LA's proposed statement early in the New Year.

I understand that requesting a meeting like this extends the time for making my written representations on the statement so that I have an additional 15 days after the meeting to do this.

I have received an additional and extensive report from the EP we instructed and I will submit that to the LA before the meeting.

Would you also submit your proposed specific amendments to the statement before the meeting or submit the report and indicate the areas in the statement that are disputed and then submit proposed amendments after the meeting?

Just thinking of time over Christmas really!

I was in a similar situation last year, I also had an EP report to submit and had a list of requested changes.

My meeting with the LA was quite brief, I queried a few points on the proposed statement and got some bits changed. But the majority of my requested changes went into a letter which I sent after the meeting.

We had quite a long list of changes so it wouldn't have been practical to go through all of them in a meeting. Plus it was clearer to set it out in writing, with references to the reports backing up the changes so they could see how it was justified.

If you have time over Christmas, I would start drafting the amendments but not necessarily submit it until afterwards. Will it be a lot of changes and are for things that the LA might agree to without too much of a fight? It's hard to get big changes agreed in a meeting, particularly if it's quite costly.

Thanks. Overtaken by events a bit as they chased me for it today so I've sent in my amendments on the statement with references to the reports. It's basically a completely redrafted statement.

We are asking for quite big changes particularly to SALT provision (which is basically non-existent) and to the learning support but we have all the evidence to back it all up so I take the long-term view. The meeting is just something to get through on the way to Tribunal! A Tribunal would certainly provide far more than we are being offered.

We ended up going to Tribunal as well. I was told at an SOS SEN workshop not to spend too much time negotiating the proposed statement, just to get it finalised asap so it triggers the right to appeal.

It's good to have the meeting to gauge the LA's position and to show willingness to negotiate, but go in with Tribunal in mind.