Quantifying and specifying in Part 3 of final statement. How to go about it?

[zen1]

I am planning to appeal DS's final statement as nothing is quantified or specified in terms of how many hours of provision he will receive or how often he should receive SALT, O/T etc.

However, I have been told by Parent Partnership that this maybe difficult to do because none of the reports on which the statement is based quantify the amount of provision either. So, if it's right that only the information that is written in the reports may be used in the statement, is there anything I can do to tighten up the woolly provision listed in part 3?

It isn't your child's fault that the LA bribe staff to not specify use incompetent professionals in the SA. If nothing is specified by them then it is fair game for YOU to specify.

Send in appeal with non-specificity as the reason. You may have to get your own independent assessment closer to tribunal date.

This pathway is becoming the common one unfortunately. Hope you have some spare cash.

Even when provision is quantified and specified in indi reports, the LA can 'choose' not to include it in part 3.

Get indi reports and go Tribunal. Be prepared for the usual 'we like to be flexible to meet a childs changing needs' line.

Also be prepared for them to chunk very old case law at you that a Statement doesn't have to be quantified and specified (whilst ignoring the more recent case law that says it has to be)

Ok, well I didn't expect it to be easy! Don't have any spare cash either, so I guess it's time to start saving. Thanks for the heads-up on what line the LA might take. They have been obstructive from the beginning (and failed to comply with SENCOP guidelines), so doubt this will be resolved at "local level" as they have suggested in their letter which accompanied the statement.

If you are on a low income or out of work, you can get free legal representation (although they cannot represent you at Tribunal) and also free indi expert reports

That's useful, thanks Claw. Do you know how 'low income' is defined? I don't work at the moment, mainly as the cost of childcare would not make it financially viable, but DH works full time.

www.maxwellgillott.com/

You could give them a call and ask, everything is done over the phone and doesnt take long. I notice they also state they do reduced rates for low income who do not qualify for legal aid.

If you do qualify for legal aid, this will also cover the cost of indi reports. Although it doesn't cover representation of experts at Tribunal. Maybe they do a reduced rate for that too.

Worth a try anyhow.

Also IPSEA may be worth contacting too www.ipsea.org.uk

We got an independent SALT report and rewrote the statement to include it. Part three specifies that my child will see a SALT twice a week, we then found a school that could provide it.

I do know of other parents that went the route of persuading the LEA SALT to specify, say once a half term and had this written in. It is still inadequate for most children but better than a vague 'access to' type comment. Good luck