Special Educational Needs

In circumstances where a pupil's development is causing concern, both the school and parents have a right to ask the Local Education Authority (LEA) to assess the child's needs.

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice allows a local authority to refuse such requests made by parents unless the request is supported by substantial evidence. It is therefore very important that any request brought by a parent is properly prepared to ensure success.

Often parents are concerned at the amount of time the process of assessment and drafting a statement entails. The Code of Practice sets out the timetable expected of the local authority. For example:

Once a request for statutory assessment has been made the LEA has 6 weeks to decide whether to carry out an assessment.
The LEA has 10 weeks to carry out the assessment.
The LEA has a further 2 weeks to notify the child's parents of the decision and to issue the proposed statement, or a note in lieu.
The parents are given 15 days to make representations about the proposed statement.
The LEA must issue the final statement within 8 weeks of the date of issue of the proposed statement.

The whole process therefore should not take any longer than 26 weeks.

You can appeal if the LEA:

Will not carry out a statutory assessment of your child's special educational needs, following a request by you or by your child's school.
Refuses to make a statement of your child's special educational needs, after a statutory assessment.
Refuses to reassess your child's special educational needs if the LEA has not made a new assessment for at least six months, following a request by you or by your child's school.
Decides not to maintain (decides to cancel) your child's statement.
Decides not to change the statement after reassessing your child.
Has made a statement, or has changed a previous statement, and you disagree with:
- The part which describes your child's special educational needs (part 2)
- The part which sets out the special educational provision (help) (part 3) that the LEA thinks your child should receive.
- The school or type of school named in part 4 of the statement.
- The LEA not naming a school in part 4.
Refuses to change the school named in your child's statement, if the statement is at least one year old (but you can only ask for a school that is funded by a Local Authority).

There is a two month time limit for lodging an appeal which starts from the date on the LEA's letter giving their final written decision.

As of November 2009, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) ceased to exist as a stand-alone body and became part of a new two-tier Tribunal Structure - a First-tier Tribunal and an Upper Tribunal. Special Educational Needs and Disability is now dealt with by the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber (HESC) of the First-tier Tribunal.

We can guide you through the process, ensuring that your case is presented as strongly as possible in relation to:

Obtaining a statutory assessment
Securing a statement of special educational needs
Challenging a local authority if they refuse to make a statement
Challenging the local authority if the statement is not good enough
Obtaining appropriate professional opinions from Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists etc
Appealing against the decision of Tribunals where parents have been unsuccessful or where a LEA is seeking to appeal a Tribunal decision.

Please call us on 01252 617119 to find out how we can assist you.