Expert witness Statements

Are there any specific regulations/rules around witness statements? Is it acceptable practice for the Local Authority representative to author witness statements? The HESCC Rules 2008 and www.gov.uk SEND Tribunal's "If you are asked to be a witness" do not include the level of detail I need.

What exactly can a LA rely on when it claims to be able to refuse under "the efficient use of resources" ground of section 39 CAFA 2014?

What exactly can a LA rely on when it claims to be able to refuse under "the efficient use of resources" ground of section 39 CAFA 2014? Whose resources? What is "efficient"? Is it as regards my child or their assessment of the use of their budget generally? Any case law on this would be welcome (ex-lawyer here, gearing up for a potential "no").

The child is ASC, tier 4 (for risk), and has some time in a secure unit (no risk to others), Section I school is a private with annual fees close to £80k.

Child offered place but LA won't fund what can be done

Child offered place at Odyssey House, turned down by 8 others named. LA has named Octavia House which is totally inappropriate and will be damaging to her development and mental health. Tribunal will take a year, she's in year 9 so can't be kept out of school for a year. Clock ticking what can be done?

Is it discrimination under Equality Act 2010? and is this considered a safeguarding issue?

Son is a full time wheelchair user (unable to stand or crawl) year 3 at mainstream village school. There were adaptions needed to access the top playground (keystage 2) and a ramp was put in last year.
On the 17th May, he suddenly said children were allowed to play on the grass bank alongside the playground (this is quite steep and the kids often roll down it). My son described how he felt sad and lonely as all he could do was sit and watch his friends. We explained this to the headteacher who at first defensively said:
1) No children are allowed on the bank, shortly after 2) The children are only allowed on the bank when i'm there 3) Then 10 minutes later, advised there were no rules about the bank. When further talks were had she advised she cant stop the kids going on as its the 'shaded area'.
My son told her how he felt and she said to him whilst I was sitting there "Its really fun going on the bank, that's why the children want to go on there, but they'll move onto something again soon."
We had asked if there could be rules applied that limited 2 houses (school are divided into 4 houses) on the bank at any one time. This would ensure that our son had some friends down on the playground with him at all times. No further communication from the head. We had also questioned why our sons 1-1 had not seen him alone and offered support, but this was not addressed.
On the 5th July, our son was upset again as he was made to feel this way again. When we questioned why this had not been addressed or rules put in place, we were told the Senco was meeting with the School Council (made up of children aged 8-10 years) the following week to decide the rules.
The rules they came back with is that each classroom/year group of 30 children are allowcated 2 x 30 minutes sessions at lunch on certain days.
We said that this per class (only one class per year at school) will make our son feel even more isolated from his peers.
We raised a complaint and have been told its not under the Equality Act 2010 as its a physical feature - but we are not asking them to flatten it, but just make reasonable adjustment to their rules/policies.
Also stated its not a safe guarding issue - surely if it is having an effect on our sons Mental Health and using the words that the head said to him, it is safeguarding.
We lodged a complaint to the governors whom have sent a really weak reply saying "the head never intended to cause any offence and regrets the vocabulary chosen.
They have looked at the timetables and confident our son receives 1-1 dedicated support. (That's as per his EHCP).
There has been a few things happen previously like everytime our son moves areas, new equipment has been put in the playgrounds from reception and key stage 1. Then when he moved up to this one, they got an accessible grant and the Head wanted to put in 'monkey bars' using the money, my son told us and we were able to speak with school and find something more appropriate but there seems little thought.
Just wanting for the head to take responsibility and show some care.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you.

Taking children out of school during term time

I will be taking my children out of school next month for our family holiday. 2 of my children have additional needs, one is diagnosed combined adhd and one awaiting assessment for adhd/asd. Neither of them cope well in overcrowded situations with one having social anxiety and the other being liable to wonder off etc. this is the main reason for going out of term time so it will not be as busy. Is there anything I can do in order to not receive an fine from my local authorities for doing this.

My autistic grandson does not like the fact that the school has no Ofsted report. This has increased his anxiety and led him to refuse to attend the consultation, and the school if they agree that they can meet his needs? I am concerned that the LEA may offer this placement. Where do I stand in regards to this matter?

Ideally I would like to quash the consultation.

Can you recommend any books for me to read to learn about SEND?

Provision for SEN Inclusion Funding in cross-county border situation

I could write war and peace on this so apologies in advance!

I have a two year old son who has Down Syndrome. Attends an amazing mainstream nursery full time who are fully supportive of him. Now he is two he is due to move to the next room, but his complex needs and lack of mobility means he needs additional support, and the staffing ratios in the room will not allow for them to give him almost 1:1 care, which he gets now (more by chance). We live in Hampshire, nursery is in Berkshire. We are right on the Hampshire/Berkshire/Surrey border so it's a fairly local nursery, my daughter attends the primary school it's attached to.

We have been trying to access Inclusion Funding since the day he started nursery and over a year later we still have none and are in a horrible gap. We have tried talking to Hampshire and Berkshire local authorities with each saying the other is responsible for the provision. My sons therapists (Physio, OT, Teacher of the Deaf, portage) are Hampshire based and cannot really go into the school to support as it's in a different county. We cannot access the Berkshire versions of these in school as we don't live in Berkshire. Can you see where i'm going with this?!

We requested an EHC assessment from Hampshire due to the lack of any support we are receiving and this has been declined on the basis that he is well known to Hampshire Children's Services and they feel his therapies are adequate for his needs and we adopt a wait and see approach. Well, this wait and see approach is meaning he cannot proceed in his development! We are waiting on mediation although Hampshire SENDIAS have said to cancel this and go straight to tribunal given our background.

I feel we are getting more confusion the more we investigate. Hampshire told us that there was definitely a reciprocal agreement in place with Berkshire to access Inclusion Funding, yet Berkshire deny this.

I have called Hampshire Social Services twice to beg for a disability social worker to support us in this (as well as some other things) and to call a Team Around The Child Meeting as i feel getting everybody in the room together would be the best thing. However despite me, as a parent, sobbing and begging for support i was told we don't fit the criteria (my son is considered 'age appropriate' and must have a lifelong disability - er, he has Down Syndrome?!) and to Google parent support in our area. Considering a formal complaint to them but mentally i've had to take a break.

I want my son to progress in nursery, to be able to move in the nursery with his peers, which is what is recommended for children with Down Syndrome (and i have this documented from a professional). However without the funding, we can't do this and I am fearful that the nursery, as amazing as they are, will not be able to support his needs.

Any advice on where to progress from here?!

Can the LA refuse to make private provision part of Section F of my child's EHCP when I have evidenced the expertise does not exist locally and that it is required clinically?

My child is unable to eat or drink after suffering trauma at birth. A specialist OT intervention has been requested by his consultant but this is not available in our locality. I have exhausted all other options and found a private provider. The intervention must become an integrated part of my son's care to be successful. It must be carried out at school in the same way as at home so I need it to become part of Section F of the EHCP. The LA have agreed to include some of the advice as part of Section G. My child already has statements on his plan in Section F endorsing the need for consistency, routine and stability in all aspects of his learning. Can I use this as legal grounds to make the private intervention part of Section F?

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.