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Mr Brendan King, an IPSEA parent adviser, discovered
in July 2005 that Education Walsall (acting as Walsall's local education
authority) was failing to fulfil important legal duties towards Walsall
children with significant and complex speech and language difficulties.
These children require a 'Statement of Special
Educational Need', a legally binding document designed to list all of a child's
difficulties and to match them with clearly described help. The law says this
help must be 'specified': the Statement must say who delivers the help, how
often and for how long.
Mr King represented Mrs Melanie Ball, who was appealing on behalf
of her five years old son Harrison. Mrs Ball wanted Harrison's speech and
language difficulties and the support for them to be described in the Statement
as educational needs and provision. The extra help Harrison should get through
the Statement will only be legally guaranteed if it is described as educational
rather than health provision. Mrs Ball wanted that help 'specified' as the law
requires and in accordance with professional advice.
Mrs Ball was also appealing for significantly more teaching
assistance support (to be funded by Education Walsall) and for a time limit of
six months on that support to be removed from the Statement.
Mrs Ball's appeal was successful on all counts and she was
delighted that Harrison will now get what he needs from his Statement - but
this only came about after a long hard fight with the officers of Education
Walsall.
However, Mrs Ball and Mr King realised that Education Walsall
intended to continue their unlawful policy and practice of describing speech
and language provision as 'non-educational' in Statements, and to time limit
teaching assistance funding. If speech and language provision is described as
'educational' in a Statement, Education Walsall must ensure it continues even
if that means hiring its own speech and language therapists when arrangements
with the NHS break down.
If Education Walsall continued to put time limits on provision in
Statements, the LEA could cut that provision without going through the usual
formal process, which includes appeal rights for the parent.
Despite many protests from Mr King, Education Walsall refused to
obey the law on speech and language therapy for statemented children. So Mr
King formally complained to the Government Minister for Education who has
upheld this complaint.
Education Walsall have confirmed that they will be specifying
amount and frequency of speech and language provision in all of its statements
and describing that provision as educational.
Mr King wrote to Education Walsall asking that they stop
time-limiting teaching assistance, and the LEA has agreed to do this without
any need for Mr King to make a second complaint to the Secretary of State.
Mrs Ball is over the moon that her success means that children in
Walsall who have difficulties like Harrison's will get the help they need to
speak and communicate.
Mr King commented :
"One aspect of Walsall's defence of its unlawful policy
and practice was that other local education authorities in the region of the
West Midlands were following similar policies. I urge all parents of
statemented children in the West Midlands to contact IPSEA if they consider
that the statement issued by their local education authority is unlawfully
vague and does not clearly state the quantity and type of professional support
their child needs to make progress and to which they are legally
entitled." |