Moving to a different area and LEA...

[pleasehelp]

My son has a statement and a placement at an independent residential school which while not absolutely perfect is probably the best we could hope for given the degree of his difficulties especially in relation to his behaviour associated with ADHD which make him very hard to keep safe and from boiling over in a normal mainstream environment. He absolutely CANNOT cope with mainstream at all and now we are thinking of moving to a different area and LEA they are insistant that they have an 'Autism and Speech and Language Unit' within a mainstream school which is where they would want to place him. Can they refuse to continue funding for his placement even though it has been named on his statement and the evidence included that we have from Ed Psych etc supports his need for a therapeutic environment quite different to mainstream irrefutably?? I am so very worried that this unit would not be able to cope and then we'd have a mammoth battle on our hands getting a place back in somewhere that is appropriate to his needs. Any ideas on whether this is actually legal or not would be very much appreciated indeed.

[annie]

Hi pleasehelp,

 

If you give IPSEA a ring, they will be able to help you.

 

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Annie

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[call me jaded]

I believe there is an obligation to maintain the current placement during any reassessment.

[nellie]

Hi Pleasehelp,

 

I agree, you should seek the advice of IPSEA.

 

What the law says -

 

This is the information from the The Education (Special Education Needs) Regulations 2001 (Regulation 23)

 

Transfer of statements

23. - (1) This regulation applies where a child in respect of whom a statement is maintained moves from the area of the authority which maintains the statement ('the old authority') into that of another ('the new authority').

 

(2) The old authority shall transfer the statement to the new authority.

 

(3) From the date of the transfer -

 

 

(a) the statement shall be treated for the purposes of the new authority's duties and functions under Part IV of the Act and these Regulations as if it had been made by the new authority on the date on which it was made by the old authority, and

 

b where the new authority make an assessment and the old authority have supplied the new authority with advice obtained in pursuance of a previous assessment regulation 7(5) shall apply as if the new authority had obtained the advice on the date on which the old authority obtained it.

 

 

(4) The new authority shall within 6 weeks of the date of the transfer serve a notice on the child's parent informing the parent -

 

 

 

(a) that the statement has been transferred,

 

b whether they propose to make an assessment, and

 

� when they propose to review the statement in accordance with paragraph (5).

 

 

(5) The new authority shall review the statement under section 328(5) B before the expiry of whichever of the following two periods expires later -

 

 

 

(a) the period of twelve months beginning with the making of the statement, or as the case may be, with the previous review, or

 

B the period of three months beginning with the date of the transfer.

 

 

(6) Where by virtue of the transfer the new authority come under a duty to arrange the child's attendance at a school specified in the statement but in light of the child's move that attendance is no longer practicable the new authority may arrange for the child's attendance at another school appropriate for the child until such time as it is possible to amend the statement in accordance with the procedure set out in Schedule 27.

 

(7) In this regulation "the new authority" shall include a local education authority in England for the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) only.

 

(8) An authority to whom a statement is transferred from a local education authority in England shall treat the statement as having been transferred by an old authority for the purposes of paragraphs (3) to (6).

[phasmid]

I have spoken to Mrs Phasmid about this. She chairs independent admission appeals panels for our LEA. What they have proposed to you is, she thinks, perfectly legal, the following (from nellie's post) is their 'get out' clause I'm afraid:

 

(6) Where by virtue of the transfer the new authority come under a duty to arrange the child's attendance at a school specified in the statement but in light of the child's move that attendance is no longer practicable the new authority may arrange for the child's attendance at another school appropriate for the child until such time as it is possible to amend the statement in accordance with the procedure set out in Schedule 27.

 

The biggest problem you have is that different LEAs have different provision available according to what they have set up for SEN. They may well feel that where your current LEA could not provide the right support in a mainstream environment their provision is better and they can provide it this way.

 

The advice given to get in touch with IPSEA is probably the best advice you can get. Mrs P finds herself chairing many panels where parents have moved from one LEA into ours and they have not had the foresight to think about the schools situation before they do so. Congratulations for having the sense to look at this ahead of the event. It may be that what you find out now makes all the difference to your move.

 

I hope IPSEA can give you 100% assurance on this and you get it sorted out.

[pleasehelp]

Thank you all for your replies. Phasmid thanks so very much-having read Nellie's post on this I thought it looked like they might have this 'loophole' as you have rightly pointed out and yes I was certainly not just going to move into a different area without having checked out the education situation for my oldest ds thats for sure because he has had such awful difficulties in the past and I have no wish to retread that path for either my own or his sanity's sakes If I thought for one minute that the unit might be suitable then of course i would gladly consider it especially if it meant that he didnt have to go away to school but sadly i doubt this most sincerely as he has such profound and complex needs which if not met i fear will be the difference between him making a successful transition into adulthood and remaining dependent on help from others for the rest of his days. The really shameful thing is the inadequacies of what the NHS offer in this respect too hence the burden is left instead to parents and LEAs to find answers and appropriate help for our kids too-its a truly woeful situation and i really do realise how lucky we have been in finding the placement he has and gettting the funding for it without having the added trauma of the tribunal in our case too, so I'm not about to throw away all that good work so looks like we're stuck with where we live for the time being-ah well, worse things happen at sea i guess

 

ETA: Am LOVING the stick insect piccy in your avatar-I became an 'accidental' breeder of the infernal creatures as a child and spent many a morning stood on a stool picking little sticks off the ceiling before school, cos the little beggars somehow always used to escape

Edited September 2, 2005 by pleasehelp

[Kazzen161]

Age may be a factor too eg: if he has already started Yr 10/11 and is in his GCSE years, or if the Unit is an infant/junior one and he woudl therefore only be there a year, + the issues of transition from his current school to new one need to be considered.

 

LEA's have a duty to meet the child's needs but also to use resources efficiently. Does his current school have any children in it from the "new" LEA? Contact the "new" areas ASD Support Group and get some info on that LEA's way of working.

 

Karen

[phasmid]

Oh yes...the little blighters are Houdini's extraordinaire! Many a time we came home to find 'little stickies' waiving in the breeze on the ceiling! They are great fun to keep though. We followed them up with a Preying Mantis - now that was better than the TV!

[call me jaded]

Section 8:114 of the Code of Practice

 

'... the new LEA may not decline to pay the fees or otherwise maintain the child at an independent or non-maintained special school or boarding school named in a statement unless and until they have formally amended the statement.'

 

IPSEA will give the definitive answer.

[Mother in Need]

Phasmid and Pleasehelp,

 

Sorry, this is rather off the subject, but those stick insects.... my NT son loves them but his few escaped over a year now...and he still hasn't found anywhere to get new ones from... have you got a couple 'spares' (they do breed rather, don't they?) that somehow could be sent to us???? You'd make someone real happy!

[phasmid]

I haven't got any. But, I know where you can get them!!!!!!

 

Stickies!!

 

From memory I don't think they are too expensive and, whats more, they post them out. Hope that helps.

[phasmid]

You'll need this page:

 

Kits

 

�8-99 for ten indian stickies.

[Mother in Need]

Thanks! Big brother is now expecting them for his birthday! You've made him happy! Which is double-great, as normally his brother's AS means he misses out on so much, but this time, it is actually giving him something!

[phasmid]

That's excellent . Glad to have been of service. Whatever you keep them in I would strech a pair of tights over it if there are any holes that they may escape from when the start to breed (which they will!).

 

I hope enjoys them.