In November 2003 IPSEA was contacted by parents when
a newspaper broke the news that Buckinghamshire was proposing to save money by
halving the number of hours of classroom help children with new statements
would receive.
In the view of IPSEA and many others,
Buckinghamshire is proposing to do something which is unlawful, and John Wright
for IPSEA immediately sent the following letter to the Government Minister
responsible for seeing that local education authorities do not abuse the laws
that protect the rights of disabled children to the special educational help
they require. (EA = Education Act, and s496 is the section of the 1996
Education Act which empowers the Minister to stop local education authorities
acting unreasonably.)
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills
DfES
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BT
Dear Secretary of State,
Formal complaint against Buckinghamshire County Council as a
Local Education Authority under s496 EA1996
I am writing to make a formal complaint against the above
Authority under s496 EA1996 on the grounds that they are acting unreasonably in
proposing to cut by 50% the hours of classroom assistance provided to pupils
with Statements of Special Educational Needs.
We have been informed of the Authority¹s proposal by
parents in Buckinghamshire and I enclose a copy of the text of a report on the
Council¹s intended actions published in the Bucks Free Press on November
12th.
It is clear from the comments made by representatives of the
Council that the proposal is under serious consideration by them. Were it to be
acted upon it would clearly place the Authority in breach of several of their
duties under the Education Act 1996 and the Education (SEN) Regulations
(England) 2001, including the duty to specify the special educational provision
in Part 3 of a Statement required to meet every need set out in Part 2 and/or
the duty to arrange the provision thus specified.
It may be that the policy as proposed would also entail breach
of other duties under education law, depending on how the Authority chose to
implement it.
I ask the Secretary of State to use his power under s 496 to
issue a direction to Buckinghamshire County Council which would prevent them
adopting this policy and bind them to fulfil their duties towards children with
special educational needs under the Education Act 1996 and its accompanying
regulations.
Yours faithfully,
John Wright
for IPSEA
cc Director of Education, Buckingham Shire County Council,
County Hall, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 1UZ ENC