Week 23 into EHCP assessment - at least seven weeks late

[2boysnamedR]

I have done some digging around and my sons EHCP assessment is currently running seven weeks late.

I have a feeling I might be at tribunal again one day if this is just the start of his journey ( he doesn't start school till sept)

I have emailed the case officer three times asking to confirm dates, asking to send me letters saying they agreed to assess ( should have had in 2015 but never arrived) emails are either ignored or not fully answered.

After appealing so much for his older brother I am pursing this to JR so I am expecting to get the EHCP (if he's approved by September and school start.

But if I do apeal what kind of evidence will help? Do sendist care if the la take 10 months to do a 20 process and would they fast track my appeal?

Sorry to read this 2boys I have no advice but know that many LA's are not sticking to timescales!

You could ring SENDIST and find out if they would fast track an appeal but you cant appeal until they finalise anyway so it might still not be fast enough

You can ask to fast track an appeal and I think these days SENDIST are quite receptive. However, you need to make sure that your experts will all be available and will be able to turn round assessments and reports within a shorter timescale, bearing in mind that they are particularly busy at the moment with appeals for children changing schools in September.

I did hear that they're planning to make the appeal period quicker anyway, so that it will normally be 12 weeks, but I assume that won't be coming in before the end of the current school year.

Have you told them you'll JR them if they don't get a move on?

Following this thread as our LA are getting a reputation for failing to finalise EHCPs (I know families who are 30 weeks and over, unable to appeal as draft not finalised).

Is it possible to JR for failure to finalise an EHCP?

2boys have you looked at the Cerebra Problem Solving Toolkit? While there's nothing of direct relevance, there is mention of making LA Monitoring Officer aware that LA aren't sticking to legal deadlines to "encourage" resolution and other techniques you may find useful

Yes, you can JR if LAs miss the EHCP deadlines, because they're statutory - i.e. compulsory. However, in practice from what I have heard just the threat of JR is usually enough, because the LA knows that if a parent actually had to go to to court they wouldn't have any defence and would have to pay the claimant's costs as well as their own.

I think the trouble with using complaints or anything like the Monitoring Officer is that in effect it just gives the LA more time whilst the complaint is considered. I've always been told that the threat of JR works much more quickly.

Yes I could JR now. They are overdue telling me that it's a yes or a no. Last time I did a JR they did what I wanted very quickly because it gets passed to their in house legal team. So however rubbish the SEN team is, they legal team kick them up the bum into action.

I think I'm on a dangerous path if start the JR as in theroy there is no way ds3 can not get a EHCP. I don't want to go back to appeal but honestly it does seem it's not going to be finalised by September. Makes me sick.

Lots of early intervention but that all stops as soon as they get into the LA hands. I need to know what school ( if any) he was allocated at panel. If he didn't get allocated a specail school or a unit i will JR so that I can appeal his placement.

They won't have got as far as allocating a school if they haven't done an assessment, will they? And I would have thought it's unlikely they would allocate a special school without an EHCP.

Have you tried telling them informally that if they don't issue a decision soon you will have to look at JR?

All the kids in his special needs nursery went to panel without a EHCP. The system is nuts in my county.

For background he is in one of the only asd pre schools in county. There are only two asd specific schools in county. Most of kids going to those two schools don't have EHCPs yet.

Once I know where is allocated I can decide if I need to JR or not ( great way to start his education!)

I have no grounds for appeal, but if I was to appeal they really wouldn't stand a chance this time, I'd go straight for independent school.

I hear the panel result next week and as soon as I get that I will mention JR - shame I can't do both boys JR in one go.

The whole EHCP business is a shambles, we are going through an EHCP transfer which began over 10 months ago, we recently received a draft copy that is of extremely poor quality, we are going through the complaints process but I think I need to threaten judicial review.

Good luck.

JR is actually very easy to do. I think you would get a very swift resolution.

I just don't the mental capacity right now. I really need to JR about my sons statement too.

I think I will be threatening my La with two JRs after Easter.

Hello, long time lurker.

I am in a similar situation and no one seems to give two hoots. It took the school 6 months to gather evidence and now the LA has said there is a backlog and nothing will be done this year.

Can anyone please advise how to JR?

Have been told that we cant do anything and its so so so frustrating.

I have one child who had transfer review in May 2015 and the other one in November 2015 - neither are finalised yet!!

Our ehcp took a year from start to finish. (New ehcp for a 4 year old). I think the whole 20 week thing doesn't mean anything to be honest. The la will come up with reasons why the deadline hasn't been met and no amount of pushing will make them hurry up unforunately - it's the same story right across all the special needs forums and boards I'm a member of.

User, when did the request go in? If it was more than six weeks ago and you've heard nothing, write to the LA saying you need a decision within, say, a week, failing which you will have to consider judicial review. If that doesn't work, contact SOS SEN about doing a formal pre-action letter which will probably work without having to go any further. I think they ask for a donation as there's quite a lot of work involved, but it's a lot cheaper than solicitors. If you actually had to go to court, you could get legal aid in your child's name, but legal aid doesn't cover the preliminary work.

Fairylea, the threat of JR tends to work like a charm. LAs know that you can take cases to court on legal aid, which means that you have nothing whatsoever to lose. If they've missed a deadline, they won't have any defence, which means that if they were daft enough to let the case go to court they'd be paying not only their own costs but also the child's solicitors. Therefore a formal pre-action letter tends to bring your child's file right to the top of their in-trays.

I think that's great advice about JR. I had no idea. I shall remember for future where I'll no doubt need it