hsmum Report post Posted February 17, 2009 Hello, We were going to move to an area closer to my place of work. Everything was going well until we made enquiries about provision for my son who has Asperger's Syndrome and other learning difficulties. Currently he has a statement which stipulates that he receives 22 hours of support in the classroom and 5 outside (per week). When I talked to the head of the prospective new school she said that the LEA for that area had said that he almost certainly would not recieve that amount of funded support from them and they (the LEA) had asked for a SEN review with (we were told) the intention of re-issuing the content of the statement with a suggestion that my son received 6 hours of funded support because that was the average amount of support a child with H's disability recieved in that region. I was shocked that provision could vary so much within 50 miles and, whilst at first I felt like fighting the LEA concerned, I knew this would take a lot of time and effort and meanwhile my son would have no assurance of adequate support. I was even more shocked that such a decision could be made purely on economical grounds and without even seeing my son. The school were very supportive, and even said they would provide support (out of the school budget), but I did not feel that addressed the fundamental issue of disparity. I cannot feel too annoyed by the LEA concerned, there are huge demands on its SEN budget. However I was shocked by the scale of the inequality. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
madme Report post Posted February 17, 2009 Yes its shocking isnt it. I was talking to someone within an LEA who deals with statements. I won't name and shame said LEA but would love to do so. When we talked about statements she informed me that said authority no longer issued statements. I was bemused and pointed out that parents are entitled to fight for one- her response was well we only give them very rarely if the parents fight really hard! Children dont need them! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mad cat lady Report post Posted February 17, 2009 I have come across this myself. I know someone who lives in the next town from me, but under a different authority. Our children are very similar in needs, Her son gets 15 hrs p/week, mine gets 5. It makes no sense to me at all Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PinkSapphire Report post Posted February 21, 2009 Straight away you have a case against this LEA as they legally CANNOT make "blanket policies" ie stating they only give x amount of funding for a child with a particular disability! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike charles Report post Posted February 21, 2009 Hi - The relevant law is found in regulation 23 of the Education (Special Educational Needs) Consolidation Regulations. This provides that where a child moves into an authority with a statement the new authority are under an obligation to comply with the statement as though it has been made by them. This obligation binds the authority in the same way as it would have bound the authority under section 324(5) of the Education Act 1996. In other words they are under a duty to comply with the statement. Failure to comply would result in a breach of statutory duty, and could render the authority vulnerable to High Court proceedings for which legal aid is available. The new authority should within 6 weeks of the move- notfiy you a) That the statement is transferred. Whether the new authority proposes to make a new assessment c) When they propose to review the statement which they should do ;- Either within 12 months of the date upon which the statement was drawn up, or last reviewed ,or within 3 months of the date of transfer. The last comment was absolutely correct. A rigid adherance to policy without regard to need would be unlawful. Hope this helps Mike Charles Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
call me jaded Report post Posted February 22, 2009 In addition, it really does differ from one LA to another exactly how much funding is delegated to each individual school, and once delegated it's entirely up to the school how that money is spent. At the moment there's no requirement for schools to publish how much they spend on SEN. There are moves to change this (once FMSIS is bedded-in), but for the moment accountability has been lost. The DCSF 'gets away' with this under a mantra of 'local solutions for local people'. Reminds me of why I have this user name. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
