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Special Educational Needs (SEN) Statements

Statementing

We can provide as much or as little support as you need. Some people merely need us to let them have some initial advice on tactics and the best way to present their case, and are then happy to deal with all the paperwork and tribunal themselves. However most parents ask us to take on the full range of work needed to get the provision that is important for their child.

SEN Helpline

Brain Lamb in his report on special needs to the Secretary of State, emphasised that parents need access to telephone advice to support them. Although this is already in operation for people who are eligible for legal aid, until now there has been nothing for people of modest means who earn too much to get legal aid. We have now set up a:

SEN helpline on: 0845 388 0108
(Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm)

If you call us on this number we will transfer you to an advisor who will give up to 30 minutes of free initial advice to help you see your way through the SEN Statementing maze.

How we can help you

Our years of experience, mean we are able to give you advice in practical terms about the problems you may be facing and advise you on how they can best be brought to the attention of the local authority and Tribunal. We can also attend annual reviews and other meetings if it seems likely that these may shorten the process of getting your child the provision he or she needs.

Education law is complex and even where the terms used in statements seem plain enough, they may have a different effect in law or to the Tribunal.

Dealing with a child with special needs is doubly stressful, without all the worry of the statementing process. In addition, many parents find a tribunal hearing which inevitably focuses on their child’s difficulties to be distressing, at precisely the moment when they want to have a clear head.

While inevitably you will be the experts on your child, we are the experts when it comes to presenting cases. Although we will advise you when we think it is appropriate to use a barrister, we carry out most of our own advocacy as we find that dealing with the parents and children over a period of time ensures that we have as full a picture as possible of what a child needs, rather than a focus solely on the legal aspects.

Statementing Services

Our services range from:

• initial advice on what is wrong with the formal drafting of the current statement
• suggestions about expert witnesses who can give you a full picture of your child’s needs (this is likely to be rather different from that put forward by the LEA, whose reports tend to be shorter and less detailed with fewer specified and quantified recommendations for provision)
• advice on tactics and how to achieve the best result
• advice on the law and how it may impact on your child’s education
• helping you to get to the point at which you can lodge an appeal against a statement
• drafting the appeal and dealing with all the other requests from the Tribunal to make sure your case if put in the most persuasive way possible
• negotiation with the authority
• ensuring expert reports are in a format that can be easily understood by the Tribunal Panel with the correct level of detail
• representation at tribunal
• enforcement of any local authority obligations
• advising on your chances of success

and any other steps you may want us to take.

Useful information:

• What is a SEN Statement?
• SEN Statementing Process
• Appealing a SEN Statement

To find out more about how our special educational needs team can help you, please contact us.

SEN Helpline:

Tel: 0845 388 0108
(Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm)