Q:
LA duty to support during school holidays
Good Afternoon
School Holiday Help!
Bear with me it’s a long one, we have 4 year old boy/girl twins. Who are off to separate schools come September my girl the local mainstream and my boy ASD hub another mainstream. For the last 2 1/2 years they’ve attended preschool together, my boy has had a 1:1 for a good portion of that time and although they really didn’t have to they have absorbed the cost for this during holiday club. They are happy to keep him during the holidays but we need to fund 1:1.
I have been trying since April to get something sorted. I initially applied for participation funding but the form was lost, I then applied again and was told to also apply for a carers assessment which I did. We’ve just had that back but it seems the social worker had done an assessment for participation fund which I asked her several times if this was the case as far as I was concerned the participation and the carers assessment were two very different things so wasn’t sure why she was involving herself in it.
We’ve been given 6 hours for 6 weeks only (which isn’t what I was asking the social worker for) my bill for the twins is close to £2,500 for the summer. We’ve had to take a mortgage break to pay for it.
We both work full time and have no family locally and I believe my son should have the same opportunity as my daughter, and our family have the same opportunity to work as other families do (and not working isn’t an option)
I have tried everything we have one SEN play scheme for his age which is only available to book 1 day a week and is grossly oversubscribed. The HAF activities all ask he has a 1:1 and are at schools/playing fields and he’s a runner he’d be out of there. Childminders/nannies don’t wanna know about school holidays only.
I’ve raised a complaint with LA about the way the whole thing has been handled but also about lack of services.
Do I have any more options? What is the LA’s duty in supporting us? I remember reading something in the children’s act about them having a duty to support parents who wish to work/study? Could I call an emergency review of his EHCP to look at the social care element as his needs are currently met during term time we can muddle through.
Erm yeah just help! Thanks if you got this far!
A: SenseCheck
- 0 Yes
- 0 No
- 1 Other
- 10 Aug 2023
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Other
Other
Can't answer yes or no.:
This may be of interest.
Regarding the holiday club, it remains unclear if it falls within education. If it is an additional paid service by the preschool, not integral to the curriculum, it's worth considering whether all adjustments have been made by the service provider. In such a scenario, to ensure your son's participation and prevent any disadvantage, he might require one-on-one support, referred to as an auxiliary aid or service.
It's imperative that the the costs of reasonable adjustments bot be passed on. This is clearly outlined in the Non-Nonsense Guide, specifically here:
While the Non-Nonsense Guide relates to education, it's worth noting that there is a significant overlap with service provision due to the comprehensive nature of the Equality Act 2010.
In any case, it might be prudent to bring up the matter of reasonable adjustments directly with the service provider.
It's important to bear in mind that discussions about disability discrimination outside of the education are beyond the scope of our current discourse and this seems to be addressing only part of your question.
I'm keen to hear the perspectives of others on this matter as well as there are possibly other social care issues involved including in relation to (amongst other things) s 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (“CSPDA”) - this provides a list of services that Council’s must provide to disabled children to meet identified need, which include home based short breaks – or respite care – and home adaptations. Maybe the support being asked for by Alex could be incorporated into section H of her sons EHCp to prevent these problems happening in the future.
Sean Kennedy
Talem Law
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