Draft SEN legislation - worrying!

[AgnesDiPesto]

SOSSEN views on draft legislation here

If you have views you can submit them to Ambitious About Autism by 11 October here although probably other routes too.

SOSSEN urging everyone to complain to their MP about removing parental rights.

Sorry, I have come to this thread a little late, but I do agree that we, as individual parents need to make our voices heard.

It is a pity that it is such a very short timescale to respond in, don't they realise that parents of disabled children tend to be rather busy people, very short of time!!

I haven't even managed to read the whole draft bill yet, but it seems to me that any ambiguities will be exploited by the LAs and the NHS to avoid providing the support and services that our children need and we risk years of expensive legal wrangling and making new case law unless this is clarified properly NOW.

There has to be a duty to for the LA to provide the support in the Statement/EHCP - "best endeavours" is just not good enough and provides far too much "wriggle" room to get out of their obligations.

Mediation - it should be the parents choice who the mediator is (I think that the whole compulsory mediation process is bad idea, and will just delay things at best and result in parents losing out at worst), this from someone who was told by the LA that they "would not negotiate with us" and would see as at Tribunal (for a mainstream placement!)
There must be sanctions on LAs who repeatedly flout the law and continue to use unlawful, blanket polices, it is the only way that they will ever be reigned in.

The existing system did not need fundamental change ( and money wasted on Pathfinder projects) what it needed was an effect mechanism to "police" the behaviour of the LAs, which this new system still fails to provide.

I'm quite confused and trying to follow this as best I can....speculation hurts my head too much...

I need a clearer picture so I know what I'm responding to....

My question is this...if things are being separated from LA and school education responsibilities...does this mean that specialists we deal with for ABA, salt, physio, etc are collectively seen as 'best endeavour' by school/LA agreeing to organise but they won't be responsible for enforcing...so parents will have to take up their battle with NHS to enforce these services are delivered????

Is this the crux? Does it mean that schools take care of education and any barriers to learning are separated from them,... so parents will have to take up a separate battle with the specialists under Health depts?

Am I seeing this right or am I too confused?....perhaps I'm missing the big picture of what this all really means

I don't understand that. Everyone has to start somewhere! I'd never heard that Mumsnet regarded itself as an established community where every new joiner has to be treated with suspicion if they have an opinion.

I think the responsibility for delivery of provision will fall to those who deliver it, rather than the LA who commissions it.

I think that is where we are headed, - but who knows............?

Mumsnet isn't, - MNSN IS, not by design, but by the posters who use it.

If you want to change that then that is valid, - come and post and effect change.

The rule isn't to be suspicious of new posters, suspicious arose at the timing and topic by those who had also invested their energies, but who had been doing so for considerable time.

But you can't descend into a community that already exists and start to tell them how to behave. Or at least you can if you want, but you risk challenge.

But when did I tell anyone how to behave? As I say, I simply gave my opinion, as many others have. Just because you've been investing your energies here, doesn't mean that others may not have been investing their energies elsewhere. Nor does it mean that established people don't have an agenda.

Course not, - but we all have an understanding or at least a feel for the agenda of the established posters, which is why you were questioned.

Look, this is getting personal, and I never intended that - I was only trying to explain. As I said, you and your contributions are welcome as are anyone's. It's a board with established community but we aren't elite.

Exactly Hot.

To save money on barristers and legal teams, you don't need to introduce compulsory mediation, - you just have to introduce clear accountability and pentalties.

Star I agree.

You need clearly worded, easily accessible law, very clear duties, penalties for breach of those duties.

If LAs and schools did what they are supposed to do under the existing law, e wouldn't have much of a problem but they don't. They break the law, they lie, they have blanket policies, they use whatever wriggle room they can.

The law must not be changed in a way which makes this worse.

I had a lightbulb moment on the way to collect dd.

I understand the difference between secure and arrange!

It it not to do with DPs

Go on then......!

Yes star thats what I think
'Arrange' means LAs sort out the provision (use own employed outreach staff, block contracts with SALT)
'Secure' means they pay for it but someone else eg parent can arrange it
We have this with our ABA programme we got the statement worded to say LA will fund, not arrange - thank goodness as when we won they tried to send it out to tender (kick it into long grass) even though we were already with the one and only ABA provider around here. We were able to point out they had no duty to 'arrange' the provision only to 'fund' it and we would therefore arrange it ourselves. To be fair they did have rules about contracts above a certain amount being sent out to tender but even so it was ridiculous to apply that to DS. They also have a duty in our statement to 'provide access' to a mainstream school.
See Star you don't need to be a lawyer - you are just as qualified!

It's a board with established community but we aren't elite.
Actually it sounds as though you are. Whilst I am glad that those of you with expertise are tackling these issues, none of the major posts on this thread seem to come from 'ordinary parents' and yet they are the ones who need the most defence. I seem to remember that IPSEAs initial response to all this makes just that point- that everything should work for the good of every child, not just those with articulate and knowledgeable parents.

It's for the Direct Payments AE!

Hey. Snubbed.

Agnes - that makes sense. There must be some reason for the change of wording and if, in some cases, parents get DPs (fat chance but in theory possible!), they would take over delivery.

And HereBenson - I am not sure I understand your point at all. Who are the 'ordinary parents' you talk of?

We might have gained knowledge through our battles with the system but we ARE ordinary parents too (albeit fortunate enough to have armed ourselves with information) and we are battling still.

We are also discussing this not just for our own sakes but to see how we can use our knowledge to ensure that any system is fair and accessible for ALL.

If this means that we will go through the issues carefully and use our skills to our best advantage, we will do that.

I can't speak for other parents but I can see where things are not accessible or clear and I can look at the implications of this for others.

'everything should work for the good of every child, not just those with articulate and knowledgeable parents'

Isn't that what we are trying to say (or at least I am)? That the law should be understandable to a lay person. An ordinary parent (which I consider myself to be, - I'm not especially knowledgable or articulate but my strength (and downfall) is tenacity) should be able to understand the law and their rights and to KNOW THEY WILL BE UPHELD without having to find resources for legal teams etc.

Reading your post again, I find it really nasty and unnecessary actually.

HereBenson, I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean, especially your last 2 word post.

Sadly I didn't get where I am, and my son where he is through being articulate and knowledgable, but by selling our family home! Lucky to have one to sell, for sure, but then so do heaps of other 'ordinary' parents.

Hothead - is your plan to do something about this?

Shall we try and identify specific issues and take an issue each?

Star, still waiting to buy our family home such has been the uncertainty about DS's schooling, where we will live and my employment over the last 4 years! That and having to take large chunk out of our savings to spend on health provision and fighting a crap school and LA.