My son's ehcp was granted but the council have refused to write 1:1 support in section F, despite their Educational Pyschologists specifying that he needs this. Instead they have written 'individualised' which does not constitute the same thing. The case officer stated in email that they are not allowed to write 1:1 support. What legislation applies to provide the right and specified provision - along with the quantity of how often they should receive this? They also finalised section J, despite providing a personal budget as requested which is to be used for OT services. Any advice would be kindly appreciated. thanks

Can a LA effectively ignore a SEN Tribunal Judgement ?

We have "won" at Tribunal and the Judge ordered that sections B and F be replaced by the amendments that the tribunal suppled. As well as taking nearly 8 weeks to issue their first attempt, the LA have decided to use the opportunity to edit the entire document including making numerous additions and deletions to sections B and F. In particular, they have taken key paragraphs written by the Tribunal and appended to them so as to change (no doubt they would say "clarify") their meaning. As I understand it they are allowed to edit the document whenever they like so doesn't this in effect override any power the Tribunal has?

I am part way to starting Judicial Review proceedings but I haven't yet had any advice about whether I have a leg to stand on or not because initially at least I'm going with sossen and no professional reply as of yet. Any thoughts on this very gratefully received.

Does the LA have a duty to make a decision, and notify parents of that decision, following an EHC Plan review, if there is an ongoing appeal?

I registered an appeal for my Child’s Ammended Final EHC Plan, the LA had already agreed to review the plan, and indeed after the appeal was registered by tribunal, an EHC Plan review meeting was held; all professionals within that meeting stressed that the named school on my Child’s EHC Plan was unsuitable, the LA now claims that due to the ongoing appeal, they will not finalise the review or issuing a notice of the outcome of the review.

The LA instead intends to make make applicable changes to the working document, based on the review outcomes, but I find that this:
- frustrates my rights to appeal the outcome of the review
- confuses the working document by introducing changes outside of the scope of appeal, e.g. sections A & E

Do tribunals often refuse requests for witness summons?

We are concerned that we will be disadvantaged if our witnesses do not attend the hearing. What else can we do if a summons request is refused?

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.

Leaving Section I blank

Child on roll at mainstream. Emergency Review taking place so an amended Draft Plan has been sent to me. Can my child remain on roll at current school if Section I remains blank whilst the LA consult with schools? NB my child is being educated off-site as the school is named on the EHCP but the school do not want my child on their premises. They excluded my child (unlawfully) which has been rescinded as we said we would leave if they rescinded it. Child had chosen GCSE Options and was due to start them Sept 2024 :( As my child as an EHCP a 'managed move' wasn't possible. I'm absolutely broken and so is my child.

Naming a school

Can the LA name a school even if the parents and/or young person has not seen it? And can they back-class the young person for that school without parental permission? My LA claim a school have offered us a place but in the year below. We haven't seen this school or met the SENCO.

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

Child offered place at preferred school, turned down by 8 others named. LA has named totally inappropriate setting which 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.

LA Consulting without informing me

I have named a school on my child's EHCP but the local authority has consulted with a different school without my knowledge. Are they allowed to do this?

Fall back position - Mainstream vs Mainstream

I am aware that I can propose a fall back position if the LA preferred school is a special school but what if it’s a mainstream?

Can I ask for mainstream type?

I would be using L vs Wandsworth 2006 - breakdown in relationship.

Can I take legal action against a private (independent) mainstream school that has refused my 3 year old daughter (sibling) a place due to her SEN needs in speech and language?

Summarised version
I need some advice on what options I can explore regarding an independent mainstream school refusing my 3yr old a place in the school her older sister goes to. Are there any legal options that can be explored please? They are capable of meeting her needs (speech and language delay) as they have done and are doing this for other SEN children with more complex needs. They claim that they are at SEN capacity due to all the other SEN children they are supporting. They are also claiming they don’t have the physical space for an additional teacher to support her. Do I have any legal grounds to explore at all? The school was oversubscribed and I suspect that is the true reason they’ve refused my daughter a spot despite her being a sibling. According to the nursery she attends which is linked to the school, her needs are not extensive enough for an EHCP. I’d appreciate any guidance on this please.

All I want is for her to be offered a place in the school, the teachers are truly lovely, it's the head teacher that is a bit cold.



Detailed Version
I have two daughters, a 3yo and a 7yo. My 3yo is on the ASD pathway with a 3yr waiting list. She has speech and language delays - receptive and expressive. No other significant concerns or differences, she’s social, gets on well with people, toilet trained etc. She was 5 months old when her father died, I have no idea what impact that might have had. She didn’t recognise her name until well after she turned 2. She’s now 3y 6mo and has the communication age of a 2 year old. She goes to a nursery that is joined to an independent school - they have the same name, proprietor and head teacher/director running both institutions.
At the nursery, my daughter is on a personalised plan and receives recommendation from an independent speech therapist. Regarding milestones, she is delayed in all things related to language and communication - her speaking, listening & understanding are all delayed. Her nursery does not think her situation is serious enough for an EHCP. I’m applying for one on my own but they aren’t being optimistic at all.

My older daughter goes to the independent mainstream primary school linked to the nursery. She’s settled there for over 2 years now. We had to relocate back to the UK after my husband died while we were abroad. It was extremely tough for all of us. This school has been her constant in the last two years. The school have SEN children with some having joined the school with their ASD diagnosis confirmed, some have more complex needs and require 121 support, some have speech and language needs and a whole host of well managed support exists in the school. On average about 1 child per class has additional needs. The additional support has all been paid for by the parents, in addition to the school fees.

When my younger daughter went for her assessment visit in Oct 2023, the school was well aware of her communication gaps - from the nursery report. The head teacher mentioned she could not offer her a space without knowing what her needs were. She said she would reserve a spot for her and wait till July 2024 to assess and work out what additional support she would need.

In June 2024, my daughter was called in for her second assessment and before the end of the assessment, the teacher was already preparing me for a rejection. The head teacher walked in later and without any consultation with the teacher, also started preparing me for a rejection. Almost like the decision was made before seeing her. The head teacher was explaining how she would get better support in a state school and that the school was not equipped to manage her needs. I then let her know I was aware of people in the school with more complex needs that were being managed extremely well. She then changed her tune to say the school is a small school and they wouldn’t have the physical space to accommodate another teacher to support my daughter's needs. That the rest of the children in the class were so far ahead of her and it just wouldn’t work out.

I firmly believe the reason my daughter has been denied a space is because of her disability and the fact that the school was over subscribed. They would rather deal with an easy neurotypical child. My daughter is a sibling of a current student, should she not have been considered fairly first? The school is very capable of meeting my daughters needs. They simply would rather not deal with the hassle because they have neurotypical children they’d rather give the spot to. Even though they have no previous ties to the school.

Is this discrimination? Can I fight this? Do I have a legal grounds? I tried to appeal the decision directly with the head teacher but she is not budging. What would you advise please?

Thank you.

Any thoughts or experience of schools making reasonable adjustments around piercings?

If piercings, currently less than 10, were obtained as a preferable alternative to significant self harm (not ideal I know but recognised by mental health professionals as best solution of a bad bunch currently). But the request to remove the piercings would make the child spiral, and stop attending school (would consider wearing retainers), has anyone got any ideas re case law or ideas for approaches.

Can my son's school mark his private speech and language therapy sessions as "unauthorised" absence?

1) My son was diagnosed postnatally with a rare neurological condition that affects fewer than one in a million children born in the UK each year. He is currently under the care of the Neurology department at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where he will continue to have regular check-ups and MRI scans every six months throughout his childhood.

2) In 2022, his condition deteriorated, and after a series of urgent and invasive interventions at GOSH, his clinical team referred him for Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) in January 2023.

3) We later discovered that the school (an Academy) had opted out of the NHS-provided SaLT services. Additionally, the school's SaLT, who was employed through a third-party provider, went on maternity leave, leaving the school without any SaLT cover.

4) By July 2023, we, as his parents, felt it was crucial to privately commission SaLT services to ensure our son received the necessary support. Given the complexity of his rare condition and significant developmental delays, we decided to continue weekly private SaLT sessions alongside the therapy he receives(only started in January 2024) through his Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) at school.

5) Since 2023, when my son began attending private SaLT sessions, his school attendance for these appointments have been marked as "authorised," as they were recognised as medical appointments.

6) However, as of this morning, we have been informed that moving forward, his attendance for these sessions will be marked as "unauthorised" and this will be reflected in his annual report.
The school's policy defines authorised absence as:
• When a child is absent, because of illness, and an acceptable explanation has been received
• Religious Observance (as defined in the exemptions list)
• Where a child has had a fixed term exclusion from school
• Medical/dental appointments. As above, appointments should be made outside of school hours.
wherever possible and the minimum amount of time should be taken.
• Exceptional circumstances (unavoidable absence)
• Any prolonged absence may trigger an unannounced home visit by the attendance/safeguarding team

7) Our son enjoys his private SaLT sessions. We have previously inquired about alternative time slots outside of school hours, but none were available.
The school is effectively forcing us to discontinue his private therapy, despite being the very reason we had to seek it in the first place.

8) As I understand, in Bromley v Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (1999), it was determined that where speech and language therapy is necessary for the child to access and benefit from education, it should be treated as an educational provision, even if the therapy is delivered by health professionals.
At the same time under the Children and Families Act 2014, SLT is recognised as both a medical provision and an educational provision.

Recently attended formal mediation with my LA on the grounds they are refusing to conduct a EHC needs assessment. However during the meeting the LA representative advised they could not make a decision and that the new information shared, would need to be presented back to their send panel for reconsideration. Is this allowed? I thought the purpose of mediation was to resolve issues if able to do so? I.e make a decision.

Is it permissable for the LA to ignore a private EP report (which they agreed to using) in the Draft EHCP? This is the only professional assesement report that has been made.

Due to national shortages and long waiting times the LA agreed to use the Private EP report for the Draft. I have received a copy today and they have ignored all the recommondations that have been made. They made no further assessements in the assessment period.

Correct route of redress.

Section E - Outcome and Provision used to prevent full-time attendance. "Child will return to full time education by the end of Key stage one" Section F discusses slow transition but isn;t actually provision. The EHCP is under appeal with a hearing date of 13+ months now down to 12 months. The school named in Section I has placed the child on a reduced timetable. Parents disagree with this. A meeting was held, and the HT would not respond other than to state, "I am just going to repeat: we are following the EHCP". The following day, the child was suspended for 2 days. The following week, for a day. The child is in Key Stage One. We have submitted a request for change - An expedited hearing date. This is a friend I am trying to help. The EHCP is being used to prevent his legal entitlement to a full-time education. My question is, Is a PAP letter to the LA something that could work in this situation?

Section E Outcomes

I am going to tribunal shortly for B, F and I. I know section E outcomes are not appealable per se at tribunal, but is it possible to submit them and get them updated? If not when would this happen?
The AR is due about 3 weeks after tribunal, but I’m hoping just to roll the rulings of the tribunal over, rather than have a proper annual review and risk the LA trying to remove them!
Thank you!

Advice on how to approach LA

Urgent advice on how to approach this please. Tribunal appeal in less than 2 weeks. LA have been awful. Not sent case review form or WD. 2 orders from Tribunal which they ignored and are currently barred.

Today, less than 8 days before tribunal they have sent WD. Also snuck in some late evidence. And asked for a meeting with me next week to discuss what I am appealing. The appeal was lodged 5 months ago and they have not wanted to work with me at all until today.

I have been working on WD with some help from a charity but am not sure it is quite right yet. I also don’t trust the LA now. I’m not sure whether to meet them or just say I’ll have an email discussion with them, or just do via WD?

I’m tempted to write a timeline of when info submitted, and my emails to them and oppose them putting in late evidence. Is this worthwhile?