Anual review of statement

[claw2]

Does anyone know the timescales for which the LA have to reply to requested changes to the statement following AR please?

I have googled, however I am only getting timescales for head teacher and parents.

Just spoke to SEN SOS and they have told me there are no time scales following AR, surely this cannot be right?

It is all very vague in the SEN CoP. My DS had his AR back in June - nearly 3 months ago. I am still waiting for his revised Statement to come back. I have requested that no changes be made. They are insistent that there's bound to be changes.

Ds's review was in early May!

Amendments were asked for and reports provided. All ive heard from the LA is a letter of a receipt, in early June.

Our review was in the first week of March and we've had nothing-not even any acknowledgement from the LA. They didn't bother attending either.

No, there aren't any timescales in the old Code of Practice. They do have to have completed the process by sending a decision letter within 12 months of when they completed last year's - i.e. within 12 months of the date of last year's decision letter. Apart from that, you can only argue that they need to decide in a reasonable time, bearing in mind that they do have a continuing duty to meet the child's SEN and they can't be doing that if the statement is out of date.

The new CoP requires the LA to send out a decision letter within 4 weeks of the AR meeting. It doesn't apply to statements, but I think you could at least use that to argue that Parliament obviously thinks that 4 weeks is a reasonable time.

OP and alwaysfighting, I suggest you tell your respective LAs that you want a decision letter now, otherwise you'll be considering judicial review proceedings. That may wake them up a bit.

I'm confused.
The previous review was held November 2012 with amended final statement issued January 2013. This was an emergency review for a new placement. I then requested an AR in March 2014 as I had heard nothing from the LA or school.

Prior to the review,an OT assessment highlighted lots of issues that were previously unknown, low centiles etc. The OT gave an advice letter to school which was being sent with the review paperwork to the LA. As ds is in a specialist school receiving regular OT I was told that this did not need to be included in part 3 of the sm as he was getting it anyway.Is this wrong? I understood that the sm still stands as it is until it is amended.

Also, things are not currently going too well at the school and there is a possibility I may have to pull him out within a few months if things don't improve. Am I best not to chase the LA at the moment in case I need to amend it and have to name another school?

If not written into a statement Alwaysfighting, any help/support can be removed at anytime.

My ds receives SALT, OT and a counsellor on a weekly basis, none of which is written in the statement.

Thanks for the info Icimoi, I did email the case worker yesterday giving her 10 days to make a decision. I will bear that info in mind and use it.

Found this on a educational law solicitors website:-

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE AR MEETING?"

After the meeting the head teacher will send a report to the LA recommending any changes that those present at the meeting felt should be made to the Statement/EHC plan. The school should also send the parents or young people a copy of the report and this report must be sent within two weeks of the meeting. The LA must then decide whether they should cease the Statement/EHC plan, amend it, or keep it as it is and the LA must notify parents and young people of this within four weeks of the meeting. The LA may also write to everyone who was involved in the AR and ask for their views on the proposed amendments. Changes may be made to the Statement/EHC plan if the child or young person’s needs have changed significantly, if the LA decides that different types of extra help are required or if the child or young person is moving to a new school. If the Statement/EHC plan is changed then the parents have the same rights to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal as when the Statement/EHC plan was originally made.

That website isn't quite accurate. Strictly the 4 weeks only applies to EHC plans. As noted, you could certainly argue that logically it should be the same period for ARs of statements, but there isn't anything in law that says that.

I couldn't find anything in Law or the SEN COP which stated 4 weeks either.

I did chase up the LA via email and was told proposed amended statement would be with me by the end of week ie today. So fingers crossed.