Can LEA refuse to fund special school place

[sayporthcawl]

Child has a statement, parents have fought for a school place and now have their choice of school named on the statement - local special school within the LA. School has capacity as not up to the maximun number of places - all sounds great except - school now find out that LA will not agree to funding the place for the child until 1 April next year and a battle has broken out between the school and the LA.

School say they will only take child if LA pay from september as they can't afford to employ additional support to ensure safely without funding.

Can the school refuse to take the child if they belive it is unsafe to do so?
Are the LA required to fund from september?

Any info from SENCOP experts would be great. I'm not the parent but have a vested interest in seeing the child places in the school asap.

how old is your DC?

If the school is named in the statement then the child MUST attend there. The Local Authority must ensure that the school has the resources it needs to fulfil this statutory obligation.

It is the LA and not the school who is responsible for this child's education and the child's parents must write to the LA immediately informing them that the school is refusing to take their child and asking them to intervene to ensure it happens.

The budget stuff is not their concern. It is up to the school argue with the LA and take legal action if they fancy and vice verse.

If the school still refuse a place based on safety then the parents need to threaten the LA with Judicial Review.

Is the child under 5? That might be the reason they're holding back funding until next April. Ethically dodgy, of course, since children with statements probably benefit from starting before 5 more than others.

I'm not the parent my child already attends this school. The LA have told a number of parents that their children have a place from september and named the school on the statement - due to a "mix up" they didn't tell the school and it now transpires they don't have any money to fund!!! School is saying they can only start if funding is found as they need to employ more staff - it's all a bit of a mess.

Parents were unsure who to target - school or LA, by the sounds of it they should be going after the LA to fund the places.

It's a crazy situation and the school are being as helpful as they can.

All of the children are over 5.

LA are acting unlawfully, then. Their own cock up should not impact on children parents and school. It's their problem to sort out. If parents been told this over the phone (because I bet the LA have been careful not to put it in writing) then they need to write back and verify the contents of this conversation so there is a paper or electronic record.

Legal advice, at the very least, is needed. If the LA messed up it's finances and couldn't fund school places for pupils in mainstream, they'd have their arses handed to them on a plate. The same should happen, here. They're quite cleverly banking on the fact that it takes half a year to get to tribunal for not delivering a statement etc or JR for their incompetence.

You would never go to tribunal for failure to deliver a statement, and you can if necessary issue a JR within a few weeks. I suggest the parents urgently contact a solicitor able to offer legal aid (because if legal action were necessary it would be in the children's names) - Maxwell Gillott for preference. There's a reasonable chance that a solicitors' letter would put a bomb under the LA.

Look at IPSEA under common problems (not getting provision in statement) and how to complain.
Should be formal complaint to LA. Complaint to local govt ombudsman (could ask LGO consider taking it early given urgency that children no school places). Then JR. Can JR immediately but might find to get legal aid you have to show tried and failed under complaint route as part of legal aid eligibility. But agree paying for a one off pre JR sol letter may be enough.
Get parents to make formal complaint online to chief exec today, then contact LGO and explain don't have time to go through stage 1 before end of term and will they take it early. If they do then may not need to pay for advice.
Parents should also contact MP. And could if want go to local paper.
Is a standard letter on IPSEA website parents can use to write to chief exec.

You don't necessarily have to show you have tried and failed on a complaint before going to JR. You use JR if there is no other reasonable remedy. It's notorious that LA complaint processes take a long time and the children here really can't be left in limbo without suitable education whilst ploughing through the complaints procedure, so you can justifiably say that that isn't a reasonable remedy for this problem.