Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our Education Law Solicitors and SEN Lawyers provide legal advice and representation on Special Educational Needs (SEN) matters to parents and professionals including other Solicitors and case managers.

We also have significant experience of social care work, so we’re very well-placed to advise when there is crossover between the care and education elements of a child’s provision, or when a residential placement may be required.

We’re happy to discuss and provide legal advice at any point which is most beneficial and helpful to you as a family. 

For initial advice get in touch with our Education Law Solicitors.

Our Special Educational Needs Legal Advice Services include:

• Initial advice/diagnosis in respect of options to secure the appropriate provision for your child.
• Assisting with requests for education, health and care assessments
• Advising on the timeframes and procedure required for education, health and care assessments (and enforcing those timetables and that procedure)
• Appealing decisions not to carry out education, health and care assessments to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal
• Dealing with disputes over the content of and provision contained within an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
• Disputes relating to provision specified in a plan not being made
• Appeals to obtain placements at independent special schools
• Appeals to obtain a placement at a residential school
• A failure to name a school within a plan
• Disputes over college and post-16/19 provision for young people
• Mediations
• Appeals to the Upper Tier Tribunal on points of law
• Appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal for Wales (SENTW)

We offer a range of packages for Tribunal Appeals and related matters and can tailor our input to suit both your needs and your budget. Our Education Solicitors and Lawyers don’t tend to instruct Barristers to attend Tribunals, as we’re experts in these appeals and conduct the representation ourselves, which assists in managing costs.

Legal Aid

Our Solicitors can also act if a provision specified in an Education, Health and Care plan isn’t being made, or there is a delay on the part of a Local Authority, as we have a Legal Aid contract in Education Law. For those parents who aren’t eligible for Legal Aid, we can do the initial work on a private fee paying basis, and if pre-action correspondence doesn’t work, look to obtain Legal Aid in the child’s name to bring Judicial Review proceedings to enforce their rights.

More Information on SEN

We understand that the law can be complicated when it comes to SEN. Ensuring that appropriate provision is in place for children isn’t an easy task, and parents with children with SEN have to navigate a difficult and often confusing system, at the same time as trying to meet their child’s day to day requirements. 

Meanwhile, Local Authority budgets are being squeezed, they’re reluctant to agree to conduct Education, Health and Care Needs assessments, and produce appropriately resourced Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Pressures on schools also mean that children with special educational needs might not always be getting the support that they require. There’s sometimes a reluctance on their part to ‘rock the boat’ and advocate for children to get support they need, and they may also internalise the likely negative response from the Local Authority.

In addition, Local Authorities often put barriers in the way to obtain support, not all of which are lawful.

Although the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal try to be as “parent-friendly” as possible, the system is inevitably adversarial and focused on statutory tests and legal procedures.

This means that getting appropriate legal advice is essential. Our Education Law Solicitors are experienced in assisting parents secure provision for children with special educational needs. While some of our Solicitors have previous experience working for Local Authorities, which is very useful, we don’t represent Local Authorities. We represent parents and their children, as opposed to institutions.

#EducationMatters

For advice and help join our Education Matters Facebook community group here

SEN Legal Advice for Solicitors and Deputies

Our Education Lawyers work closely with other solicitors who deal with children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN). We regularly help both Deputies and Medical Negligence Solicitors during litigation and in the time after settlement.

We can provide support through claims for education support costs and guarantee that they are accurately and appropriately represented in a litigation claim in order to maximise the recoverability of such costs from the other party. When an SEN dispute or other concerns arise, we’ll work with other industry professionals to make sure that your client has access to suitable support and advice.

We’re happy to discuss any case and offer advice and quotes when needed. We work on a competitive capped fee basis and this includes appeals and advocacy at tribunal.

SEN Legal Advice for Case Managers

Similarly, to when we work with other solicitors, we often work alongside Case Managers either during or after litigation. Common cases that we have worked through with case managers include:

• Securing funding for residential schools for children and young people with SEN and/or other needs, therapy or 1:1 support within school.
• Providing advice on disputes with schools, including school exclusions (whether formal or informal) Difficulties with schools preventing the necessary access to external therapists
• Disputes with social care and health services.
  We’re more than happy to discuss any potential cases informally and provide advice and quotes where required
• Disputes over school placement and the funding of placements
• Disputes with social care and health services.

We’re more than happy to discuss any potential cases informally and provide advice and quotes where required.