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(In)appropriate Local Authority attendance at the Annual Review
My daughter’s EHCP Annual Review (AR) takes place one week today. Per the norm, the LA has been invited to attend. We’d not had an indication one way or the other if they would; our LA doesn’t usually attend. Today, her college received a phone call from the caseworker saying that they would / could not attend, but their superior would (we do not know yet if this is virtual or in person).
The named person they propose was the lead and very adversarial protagonist on the LA’s behalf for a Lower Tribunal hearing (which we ‘won’), a subsequent appeal (which was also won), and then made an LA appeal to the Upper Tribunal, which we again won, which resulted in the (very successful) placement at the current college.
My questions are:
1) Is it permissible that an LA representative be substituted at this late stage and can we ask for an alternative person?
2) Can we request that the LA does not allow this person to be involved in our daughter’s AR, or indeed any aspect of her ongoing engagement with the LA SENAT?
We feel threatened and intimidated by the named person’s involvement because:
a) their extremely adversarial approach to the tribunals caused a lot of pain, distress, delays and expense – both to us, and to the public purse.
b) their various submissions and representations were found to be at best irregular, at their base level they were incorrect and manipulative, which the judge(s) concurred with (in other words, they were not faithful and truthful, but this is of course tricky territory).
c) we believe they are very prejudiced against us as a family.
d) my daughter is vulnerable and is still scarred by the tribunal process and we do not want this person to have any contact with her.
Thank you in advance for any guidance at this difficult moment, served on us at very short notice.James Doherty
24 Mar 2025
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I have never heard of exams being sat at home. My son has a separate quiet room - would that work?
Can a disabled child or young person sit their examinations at home?
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Is there any legal basis for an LA to enforce pre-defined costings onto schools spending of the notional budget?
When providing provision maps to support top-up funding requests Derbyshire County Council is requiring provision to be costed at a pre-determined amount rather than the actual cost even when the school is evidencing the cost of what they are already doing (ie from their notional budget). This means that schools are repeatedly working at a loss in relation to this- can local authorities legally do this/ or is there a legal challenge that can be made against them doing this please?
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We are in the final stages of EHCP. We have requested EOTAS (to pay for online school) and a personal budget. The LA have said "County Independent panel have reviewed your request for EOTAS and personal budget to fund Kings Inter High, further information is required before EOTAS can be considered. We will be contacting F...... high school to establish if they are able to support funding Kings Inter High as E. remains on their school roll. We will also be issuing consultations to independent settings to establish suitability; these consultations will be shared with you before they are issued." My question is does the LA pay for EOTAS - why are they asking the school? The LA tried to unroll her from mainstream but we said they could not do this until they have provided alternative provision - and we request EOTAS - were we wrong to do so?
My daughter is happy at online school. She has tried two mainstream schools and cannot manage. She will not attend school in person and the EP report is fairly conclusive with this regard.
Angie Lee-Foster
17 Jan 2024
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Does a new diagnosis mean another re-assessment of EHCP?
Does a new Dx mean another re-assessment of EHCP?
Victoria Dean
22 Mar 2025
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Provision in Section F
Section F states a safe space for emotional regulation. The school is offering a staff room - is this an appropriate safe space?
Victoria Dean
22 Mar 2025
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How do I show A has EBSA?
What can I do to show a 9 year old has EBSA? I've a letter from teacher re his biting himself.
Victoria Dean
24 Mar 2025
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Offered a family support worker for A's EBSA
The family support worker specialises in excluded lads/ gaming addicted lads. A hasn't been excluded. He's not a big gamer.
Do I need to see this individual. My 2 other children have excellent attendance. I feel we're being punished for A's neurodiversity. He has head and facial injuries from the car accident. I'm in a wheelchair. A tried to commit suicide in class and bit himself and threw things. Do I need to force him to attend and fail at another placement? He had been offered a special school place at an autism special school. They won't give a reason as to why he can't attend the special school - always that "Mainstream school of their choice can meet his needs.Victoria Dean
24 Mar 2025
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Can I request the EP as an expert witness in my EHCP appeal, or could this backfire?
Our Educational Psychologist (a 2nd-year trainee) wrote a vague Section F provision with many examples rather than specific, quantified provisions. I have emailed three times requesting that it be made legally compliant, but the response I received stated:
"EP reports are written with the intention of enabling education staff to plan and deliver a personalised curriculum within a school or other educational setting. The additional examples that are included within advice help educators to incorporate recommendations/approaches into their lesson planning without limiting their creativity and flexibility, allowing staff to interpret the essence of the recommendation and plan to best effect."
I assume this aligns with LA policy, but my concern is that the vagueness makes the provision unenforceable. My son has an EOTAS package (recently agreed in final/nothing in place), and the LA is only organising tuition for the core curriculum. This means the examples listed in the EP report linking learning to interest (especially computing, which he accesses privately and consistently) are not included in his provision.
I agree with the essence of what she has written within F but due to the lack of detail I am appealing Sections B and F, and I’m wondering whether I should request the EP as an expert witness to clarify her recommendations—or whether this could backfire if she aligns with the LA's stance. -
Child's EHCP allegedly states ethnicity - is this needed for an ehcp in section A?
Child's EHCP allegedly states ethnicity - is this needed for an ehcp in section A?
Victoria Dean
22 Mar 2025