Can I have your thoughts on this?

[insanityscatching]

Trying to work out whether the LA have a total disregard for the appeals process, are completely blase about making a case or just wholly incompetent.

They intend to use reports from 1998 to justify the amended statement. Ds was three, non verbal, nappy wearing with extreme challenging behaviour.

He's now 16.5 with normal speech with no real communication and incredibly well behaved.

We will of course be supplying current independent reports.

All of the above probably ! I have just had to push for DS's amended

statement-They were happy with the statement that described his 3 year old

self when he is 7..............but 16.5 !!

Let them look like idiots.
Thats to your advantage right?
There are some recent cases against Leeds on LGO website where they criticised council for not updating the statements of sen (amongst other horrific errors)

Total disregard and blase.

Sorry. That's my experience. Tribunal is the normal path to provision in my experience anyway.

That's just shocking. Its not rocket science to work out that the needs of a 3 year old are vastly different to a 16 year old.

Just another thing to use against them, insanity.

Looked at LGO website and our LA has no educational judgements against them Not sure whether to be reassured by that or dismayed because have a complaint in to LGO now.
I wonder if you are right Star that Tribunal is becoming the norm now. Five years ago the LA did at least meet deadlines and seemed wary of anyone prepared to go to Tribunal.
Now they seem totally unconcerned and in fact the covering letter with proposed amended statement explains that the reason it has taken eight months from AR and 6 months past deadline is because I want an independent school and they had to investigate.

it took us 2 years to have a statement amended and its recommendations never even got implemented as he finished school now, I think the key is to amend the statement itself, not just keep adding any additional ed psych/speech and lang etc reports as on their own they don't have the same legal status

They have amended the statement, well they have issued the proposed amended statement which doesn't make sense and gives no direction at all to a mainstream placement.
They have replaced full time specialist provision and ft 1 to 1 support from ASD specialist TA with 30 hours untrained TA support and up to 3 visits a year from the outreach service
Even if they had named a placement to meet his needs I'd still have to appeal parts two and three with what I've now got.
I just can't work out why they are so unconcerned more than anything, have a top education law solicitor and current independent reports and the LA don't even appear to be making any effort to build a case.

Our LA has a 'policy' that all out of county placements can only be given through tribunal. Those in charge have performance indicators. If it is ordered by tribunal then they can say that it was unfair to use it against their performance indicators as the tribunal was biased/stupid/abritary, which to be fair it often is.