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mousytrap

Dirty Tricks Pulled By (Unnamed) LEAs

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Here's a few for starters... I might remember some more later.

 

1 Refusing to let our OT visit the named school

2 Taking over 2 weeks to get back to our OT regarding an appointment time to visit son at his current school

3 Requesting all sorts of ID and certification from the OT at 4pm the day before the visit, even though they could have done that a couple of weeks earlier and she's never been asked for all that before

4 Refusing our OT access to assess our son at his current school, once she had already travelled about 2 hrs from a different county to see him (they must have been REALLY worried about OT)

5 Named school not replying to our legal rep's list of questions for about two months and giving it to her the morning of the hearing. Panel aware as we immediately got it admitted as late evidence.

6 It then transpiring that grades on said list were out of date, meaning they had filled it in ages ago and withheld it. Panel aware.

7 Our request under data protection being delayed once for lack of birth certificate, then somehow losing another week (after we sent that in) before the validation date they gave to start the 40 days from

8 Not adhering to the 40 days and upon being chased for the results, saying they haven't even started working on the "pile" of paperwork, they can label it urgent and hurry it through but it'll only be some of it, depending on how far they can get by our deadline and we'll have to agree to time limit it and redact it, then come and pick it up. Only getting about 200 pages, most of which we'd seen already.

9 Not sending their final evidence bundle by the Thursday deadline, nothing happening Friday or Monday, then it showing up last thing on the Tuesday afternoon, along with an apology and stating it wont disadvantage us because it's only 2 working days since the Friday deadline - clearly wrong. By that stage, of course, they've all had a jolly good read over the weekend... Excuse given emergency casework meeting or somesuch... Whether that was Thursday, Friday or indeed a meeting on the Tuesday about us when everyone was up to speed is yours to guess... We accepted it as there was nothing we hadn't already got from the school's files.

10 Within an hour of said paperwork coming through, an email arriving from a county EP asking to see our son at school. (To be clear this was also AFTER the evidence deadline) . Gave him authorisation to observe at school only, then report back to us, not formal assessment or report acceptable. They've only had 18 months in which they could have done the assessment...

11 Rumour of county approaching our desired residential school to beg for a day place but no formal offer because seemingly their barrister was not empowered to offer it. Getting an offer two days before hearing (which may or may not have been authorised), then a retraction only a couple of hours later.

12 Working document not coming until a few hours before the hearing.

 

That was before we got into the hearing and had the county team trying to refute that autism was our son's primary educational need/core disorder, and producing filibusters that politicians would be proud of, even when fairly simple questions.

 

mousy

Edited by mousytrap

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Shocking, but probably more incompetence than design.

 

There is no one to hold them to account and they know they can get away with it.

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When I did a FOI search I found out that meetings were being held about my son, and there was no agenda, no minutes, no record of who was there, what was said, what was agreed etc. It just happened that someone from the Parent Partnership was at this meeting and told me what was discussed and what happened. I tried to get some information on paper, but the FOI person at the LA said that as there was no 'paperwork' that so she could not send anything to me! How can that happen. LAs having meetings about your son and not having anything about it on paperwork at all.

 

Also, at a meeting in school, with about 15 people attending [my son was out of school for about 9 months by now], the LA Inclusion Officer said that she wanted to submit some paperwork to Panel [LA Panel] to seek funding for a suitable adult to take my son out of the home for things he would enjoy. She said she could not get it ready for the next Panel meeting [in two weeks time], so would get it submitted to the next Panel. She went on and on about how she wanted the paperwork to be immaculate so that it was not turned down for any reasons.

 

Six weeks later I find out, again via the Parent Partership, that the funding has been refused on the grounds that the Panel wanted more information of his needs, and how the funding would be used. So she hadn't made the paperwork immaculate had she. Then I asked "who" had been on the Panel. It turned out that it was this same Inclusion Officer, her boss the Senior Inclusion Officer and a Specialist Teacher. So what happened is that the LA Inclusion Officer put together the paperwork [and would have been in consultation with her senior Inclusion Officer]. They decided to submit the paperwork to the Panel [ie. themselves], then decided to turn down the funding they had requested of themselves because they decided they needed to ask themselves more questions! So I submitted that to SEND as evidence that they were attempted to look like they were doing something, whilst all the time they were really just trying to delay doing anything at all. Afterall, how can you submit a request for funding to yourself, and then turn it down because you have not given yourself enough information about how that funding will be used?

 

And many many many more instances of maladministration.

Edited by Sally44

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I have just started my own blog and I am trying to create a space for parents to 'tell it like it is'. Let me know if you would like to add any of your stories. I am using it as a campaigning tool and tweeting too!! Just message me.

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...and they still haven't finished...

 

They're now holding up issuing of the judgment as they have yet to provide the electronic working document as far as it was agreed, so the judge can make his adjustments...

 

We are told that a decision has been made however.

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