tribunal deadline

[madsadie]

Yesterday I received order from tribunal telling me LA no longer oppose my appeal.

 

I could not believe it......however my release was short lived....i didn't even have time to eat a pancake... I have now been told that SENDIST made a MISTAKE and LA DO oppose, so we're now back in business.

i thought it was strange as i had not heard from LA.

 

So, folks, another glowing example of the wonderful system.

 

Now, can anyone tell me : I have my date to respond to LA's response. Sendist today told me i only have to get the attendance form in by that date - anything else can wait til final deadline. Is this right?

I thought i had to reply to LA's response.

[Sally44]

There is the deadline by which you must have submitted your attendees. However IF you need to change them you can do so after that date using a "Request for Changes" form. You would have to give your reasons for the change, and SEND would put it infront of a Judge to decide whether to agree to that change or not. We changed out attendees because our tribunal date was cancelled twice, and by that time it was worth me getting an independent EP report. So I dropped the CAHMS Psychiatrist, who I felt had given me her good evidence in her reports and minutes of meetings, and I was afraid of what she would say on the day as she had no experience of SEN Tribunals. So I requested that change on the grounds that my appeal had also changed [i had requested a change so that part 4 was also part of the appeal], and therefore needed an EP report to determine the type of school and provision my son needed and they needed to attend as witness so that the Panel could ask them questions about their report.

 

The second deadline is about your submissions as evidence. If you have anything after that date you can still send it in or ask for it to be admitted on the day of the Tribunal and the Panel members will read it on the day. The LA may refuse to allow any evidence submitted late, but the Panel will then decide if it is relevant, and if it is they should admit it.

 

If you are unsure about anything the best people to ask are SEND themselves.

[madsadie]

Thank you Sally. the problem is that SEND seem to be making blundering errors. however, if I get them to clarify ( and it's later deemed incorrect) then I have proof, and the ball will be in their court.

 

Did you think that the panel took notice of the CAMHS report? I now have a CP who is willing to come to hearing but she cannot come on dates within the time I've been given. I've asked them to allow another date but SEND refuse.

So, now I either have to push for it giving SEND reasons why she needs to come, or i do without her and just submit her report. I haven't met her yet, and she hasn't seen my son but in speaking over the phone she has been very supportive. She is not local CAMHS ( they were useless.) It has been suggested to me that I should take the EP to the hearing and not CP. But, as my son's issues are anxiety based I feel she is important.

[Sally44]

Is this CP from the NHS or independent?

 

If she has not seen your son how is she going to produce a report? If she is going to see him and produce a report can you submit it within the deadline for submissions?

 

It is unlikely that SEND will change the date for whatever purpose. They are booking appeals about 6 months in advance, so any cancellation would mean a date some 4-6 months later, which would take you to a new school year.

 

If her report is crucial and she is going to make specific recommendations about the type of school and type of environment etc then her report can be used by the EP to back up what he is saying about the type of school your child needs.

 

Regarding our Tribunal, CAHMS letters and their input at meetings [which I recorded and typed up] were very useful. She said she was astounded by the number of educational issues he had. She said he was totally overwhelmed and overloaded on a daily basis. She confirmed he had attempted suicide and had promised her he would not do it again etc. But I dropped her as an attendee because she did not know about the SEN process, and she said to me during a conversation that my son could remain where he was IF he was properly supported - well she was living in la la land, because they were not supporting him and that was how he ended up refusing school, attempting suicide, developing an anxiety disorder and finally OCD.

 

If is very important that you get the right people seeing your son. If this is an NHS CP they MUST keep to the SEN Code of Practice and identify each and every need he has, and they must quantify and specify the provision and support and type of placement and learning environment he needs. The NHS CP I saw had to be pushed over some months to do this. And I received a letter from her confirming my son had an Anxiety Disorder the day before the Tribunal - so we were cutting it very close. But as good as she was, I did not want her as an attendee because she was a lose cannon. Just one word said out of place could have lost us the Tribunal, so I could not risk it. I had to have only independent professionals as my attendees on the day because we were fighting for an independent placement that was going to cost alot of money.

 

The independent EP is the professional that draws together all the advice and is usually the professional that says what kind of placement the child needs. And remember that alot of the questions the Panel asks will be educational ones.

 

If this is an NHS CP you could ask SEND to Supina them to attend. If they agree the CP would have to attend regardless of what she was doing on that date. She is legally bound to attend. But be careful if you are not sure what she could say under questioning. Especially if she has no experience of educational tribunals and being an expert witness.

 

Regarding SEND making mistakes. Yes they made some with me. Go through your bundle and ensure that all the pages of all the documents you have sent to them is included. I had sent alot of my evidence as attachments to emails. I then discovered that SEND can only download one email per case number per day. So where I had sent a second or third email and attachements, SEND had not even received them!

 

One thing I would recommend, if you can set it up, is to have your own telephone meeting between your attendees to discuss your case and what the main issues are and what will be your response to certain issues that could be bought up by the LA or SEND. This is hard to achieve if you have NHS professionals as your attendees. So organise a telephone meeting with your independent professionals.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Sally44

[Sally44]

The only additional deadlines apart from the deadline to submit attendees, and deadline for submission of evidence; is any Order issued by SEND that has a deadline by which you must have complied with that Order. So, for example, if SEND issue an Order telling you and the LA to submit details of the main issues of the Appeal by xx/xx/xx, then you must do that. But don't remind the LA if they are late. It works in your favour if the LA misses deadlines.