IPSEA

Lewisham forced to withdraw misleading advice to parents

22 February 2007

In July 2006 IPSEA made a formal complaint to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (DfES) against the London Borough of Lewisham over its distribution of a leaflet for parents called 'Lewisham is Improving Support for Children with Special Educational Needs'. In that leaflet Lewisham told parents that: 'Statements [of Special Educational Need are] no longer necessary' when in fact a local authority assessment and statement is the only way a child is guaranteed to get the special help they need if their needs cannot be met by the normal resources of their local school.

The DfES have now intervened and told Lewisham that their leaflet is 'misleading and makes no reference to other documentation which might allay parents' concerns about their legal rights and thus the Authority were acting unreasonably in the way they presented information in that leaflet'. The DfES also decided the Lewisham's leaflet was unlawful under special needs information law.

As a consequence Lewisham have been forced by DfES to:

• Withdraw the leaflet
• Write to schools asking them to disregard the leaflet and make it clear that parents and schools have the right to request an assessment and that accurate information could be found on the Lewisham's website.

Roger Inman, Chief Executive of IPSEA, comments:

'We are delighted that the Secretary of State has acted decisively to restore crucial rights to Lewisham's parents and schools. The right to request an assessment and, if needed, the right to obtain a statement are still vital safeguards for children with special needs. Lewisham cannot wash its hands of those children by attempting to dismantle the statementing system and push its legal responsibilities onto schools. We hope Lewisham will learn from this experience and support its parents and schools better in the future.'

See IPSEA's complaint