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Thousands of individuals who are classed as ‘severely mentally impaired’ may be entitled to a council tax discount AND a refund of overpaid council tax fees. There has been a distinct lack of guidance from councils across England and...
The number of Unregistered Schools continues to increase and a recent article published by the BBC confirms that Local Authority’s are now contributing thousands of pounds a year to such provisions. The information published within the...
Malcolm Dear Whitfield Evans is proud to announce that they have joined the national network HCB Solicitors. Membership allows us to increase the size and depth of our solicitor teams to over 300 legal specialists in 25 offices through...
A recent news article on Devon online discusses the how Devon County Council is failing children with Special Educational Needs. The article is based on an inspection report carried out by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission which highlighted that too...
We have recently acted for a school that was forced to bring a Judicial Review of its own local authority, Medway. This case was brought by the school purely because it had clear, evidenced, concerns that it was not able to support a young person’s...
A recent article published by the BBC calls attention to the significant delays that families who require SEN support face. With an increase in applications for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP’s), families are far too often facing unnecessary...
The Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (SENTW) recently held a User Group Meeting to summarise the challenges they have faced in the past year 2017/2018 and to also provide all individuals involved in the Tribunal process with an opportunity to...
HCB's Head of Education Law, Andrew Barrowclough, gives his views on the state of the current SEN system in England. HCB Solicitors, in Cardiff, is one of the UK’s leading education lawyers who fields hundreds of inquiries from parents lost in...
Report finds substantial increase in child mental health referrals – where do we go from here? As Education law solicitors we work with many parents who have experienced significant delays with obtaining support for their children who are suffering...
In the recent case of Burki v Seven Thirty Limited , the High Court awarded damages to Ms Burki after she paid £12,700 to join the Defendant dating agency. She was told that there were a substantial number of wealthy male members who fitted her...
We have recently been sent, anonymously, a letter from Nottinghamshire County Council which seems to set out a blanket policy for pupils in year 14. To clarify, this seems to directly impact upon all pupils in independent and non-maintained special...
The Times have addressed this issue in their recent article which brings attention to the concerns surrounding academic misconduct tribunals. A shortage of qualified staff has unfortunately resulted in a decline in the quality of tribunal panel members and...
In recent times, mental health awareness has become a topic discussed and debated in the mainstream media and is applicable more than ever in relation to young people throughout England and Wales who have special educational needs. It is often the case that...
Can your Local Authority lawfully extend the 20 week statutory timescale to finalise an EHCP? We have had several calls from parents over the last couple of weeks asking for clarification as to whether their Local Authority can extend the 20 week...
The specialist Education team at HCB Solicitors have received a sharp rise in calls this year from parents regarding fixed and permanent exclusions. Approximately 9 times out of 10 the excluded child has a special educational need, which has not been met...
A Change to Local Authority Complaints Procedures is Required Throughout years of specialising in Education Law, it has been common for the majority of clients we act for to raise grievances and formal complaints with their Authority for a host of reasons;...
Andrew Barrowclough , Head of Education Law at HCB was recently invited by LexisNexis® to comment on proposed changes to University Fees for an article. He comments as follows: Andrew Barrowclough, echoes concerns that the rise in tuition fees...
If you applied to register a Lasting Power of Attorney or an Enduring Power of Attorney between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2017 you can apply to get a partial refund of the registration fee you paid from the Office of Public Guardian (OPG). The Ministry...
The Upper Tribunal has released judgment in the matter of B-M and B-M v Oxfordshire County Council [2018] UKUT35 (AAC) . This decision relates to the question of whether or not an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) needs to contain a high...
A recent news article in The Law Society Gazzette discusses the research carried out by the SRA on the benefits of law firms publishing price information on their websites. ...
As part of its goal to reform the education system, the government has recently announced that it will be offering state and independent boarding school placements to children with links to the social care system. The move sees the creation of the new, ...
As Education law solicitors, we have seen an increase in the number of enquiries from parents who have been notified that their child has been, or will be excluded from school. Child exclusions are a serious concern for parents and alarmingly, the most...
In line with our earlier blog about the Welsh Assembly beginning to listen to the concerns about Special Educational needs reform ( here ). The Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill was approved by Assembly Members on Tuesday, 12 th...
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a further £45 million for SEND services The package of support worth nearly £45 million is to provide additional help for children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities....
A recent article published by the BBC entitled “Horrendous Meltdown: Why I home-educate my daughter” highlights how a lack of school support has led to an increase in the number of children with learning difficulties being home schooled. The...
The Care Quality Commission have today published the phase one report of their review of children and young people’s mental health services which ultimately reveals, as expected, that too many children and young people “have a poor...
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has released a report concerning its investigation into the first 100 complaints it has received about Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The Ombudsman’s covering article is entitled...
HCB Solicitors recently attended the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (SENTW) User Group Meeting 2017. During the user group, the SENTW presented information about the appeals that it had dealt with during the year 2016/17. In...
The Upper Tribunal has recently published its judgment for JP v Sefton MBC [2017] UKUT 0364 (AAC). This case concerns the statutory test of “necessity” for an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This case can be useful for parents who...
The Welsh Government recently published data concerning permanent fixed term exclusions from schools for the period 2015 to 2016. This data indicates that children and young people with Special Educational Needs in Wales are at significantly...
A recent news article by the BBC ‘ Essay cheat companies face university ban ’ discusses how new guidance for universities requires them to clamp down on so-called ‘essay mills’; businesses allowing students to purchase essays and...
The BBC has recently published an article entitled “We’re scared of our adopted son”. The article can be found here , and deals with what psychiatrists have started to refer to as “callous unemotional traits”. ...
A recent article published by the Guardian highlights that families are facing significant challenges securing SEN support for their children. It seems that families are simply giving up on seeking EHC needs assessments because of the barriers...
It is common, in my experience, for parents of children with autism to feel that concerns expressed to local authority professionals are often discarded, or that there is a distinct lack of understanding of the condition itself. This leads to disputes and...
In England today pupils will be receiving their GCSE grades however; they will look extremely different to how many of us remember them. This year students are the first to be awarded numerical grades for GCSE’s with 9 being the highest down to 1,...
Today, many anxious students in England and Wales will receive their A-level results. This year in particular there is much apprehension regarding these results due to the changes in the qualification system, which has seen many A-level courses removing the...
The Upper Tribunal has released two cases in the last year which deal with school transport and special educational needs. The judgments particularly look at transport being included in an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). There has been a fair amount...
We have recently been approached by a concerned parent about one local authority’s approach to EHC Needs Assessments. The concern particularly relates to the apparent policy of the Local Authority to refuse to make a Social Care Needs Assessment as...
Earlier in the year, I wrote a series of blogs regarding the variety of unsavoury tactics employed by Local Authorities across England and Wales who attempt to discredit parents of children with special educational needs. I referred to intervention from...
The Department for Education has now published the updated statistics for the permanent and fixed period exclusions that were issued in England from 2015 to 2016. These statistics were published on 20th July 2017 and can be found here . This data covers...
A recent news article on BBC News titled ‘Will Law should be brought into the ‘modern world’ discusses how the Law Commission for England and Wales believes the current rules governing Will Law to be ‘unclear’ and puts people...
We have recently successfully opposed an Application for Permission to Appeal brought by a Local Authority following a decision of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. The Local Authority did not agree with the decision of the Special...
The judgment of the Upper Tribunal in the matter of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea v GG (SEN) has been released. This judgment is very important for all learners over the age of 16, particularly those who are wishing to secure courses...
We recently wrote about a very substantial release of information by the Department for Education. That release served to review parents' and families' experiences of the new Special Educational Needs and Disability system and their experiences of...
Over the last few days the Department for Education has released three very substantial documents which all relate to a review of the special educational needs and disability reforms. The first document is entitled "Review of Arrangements for...
The judgment of the Upper Tribunal in the case of S v Worcestershire County Council [SEN] has now been released. This new Special Educational Needs decision deals with three key points; 1. The operation of Children and Families Act 2014 in appeals...
What is a Deputy? A Deputy is a person appointed by the court to handle the affairs of another person who lacks the mental capacity to do this themselves. The power to handle someone’s affairs when they lose mental capacity does not fall automatically...
Despite overwhelming opposition during the consultation period, the Ministry of Justice has recently announced radical changes to the Probate Court fee. Presently, the court fee is fixed at £155 for professionals or £215 for individuals. The fee...
The judgment in Gloucester County Council v EH (SEN) has been released today. This is very important for all special educational needs cases involving post-16 young people. It is also very interesting in light of the recent DfE Guidance on the topic. In...
The Department for Education has published a new guidance document entitled “SEND: 19- to 25- year olds’ entitlement to EHC Plans”. The guidance document can be found here and was published on 21 st February 2017. It is notable...
