Write to your MP

Writing to your MP couldn't be easier.

This website: writetothem.com makes it really simple with a step by step process.

I've just written to my MP, Eric Pickles, with this letter and you can too - feel free to copy and paste:

Dear Mr PIckles

Mr. Ed Timpson claimed in a letter to parents, dated 1st September, 2014, that no child should lose their statement in the transfer to EHCP.

So no child or young person should lose their statement and not have it replaced with an EHC plan simply because the system is changing. 

Equally, I expect that young people who are currently receiving support as a result of a LDA and remain in further education or training during the transition period, who request and need an EHC plan, will be issued with one. 

If a council decides to cease a statement and not replace it with an EHC plan or not issue an EHC plan to a young person who receives support as a result of an LDA then dispute resolution arrangements must be in place locally for parents and young people, including mediation and the right to appeal a decision to the SEND Tribunal.

Needless to say, the process is lengthy, which will affect our children’s education, as their needs will not be met during this process. Going to SEND Tribunal places a financial burden upon parents, and some may not have the means to fight to support their child, whose educational development will suffer. 

The distress caused by battling the system also has an emotional cost as many parents of children with SENDs affects their mental health and well-being. The impact of losing provision set out in the statement will not only be felt by the child but also their family and the school with potentially devastating consequences.

Please, would you provide me with the legislation, which protects the current provision in Part 3 of a statement when transferring to Section F of an EHCP until appropriately, qualified, professional advice recommends that this is no longer necessary. 

We have struggled to find such legal security in the Children and Families Act (2014) and feel that this is against the interests of justice or the intention of the legislation.

I sincerely hope that the intention of the new legislation was not to discriminate or remove the rights of children in this way and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Ann Cardus