LEA, SEN school and an apology!

be96erj

Hi forum,

After many years of fighting with our local education authority, we finally managed to get our autistic son into a Sen school. However our LEA persistently made it difficult and lied many times even to the tribunal. Last year we put in a complaint about their lies, and 15 months later (honestly I'm not exaggerating) we got a reply.

We attach a copy of the letter. It would appear they acknowledge their fault/lies and are offering a £500 bribe to keep us silent. 

Does anyone have experience with this? If so:

1. Will the £500 come out of the LEA SEN budget? Or will it's insurance policy pay it out? We ask this as we do not want to take their money if it means schools will be short changed.

2. If it is being funded by an insurance policy, are we being low balled by them? Should we go after more compensation for the stress, anguish and sleepless nights, as well as the 3 years of our son not getting the help he needed, all because the LEA constantly lied?

3. Is taking money for this matter morally wrong? Should we take the money and hand it to our son's school? If so, how much could we get if we negotiated?. It would be nice to buy the school some new iPads or similar!

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @be96erj

Just to let you know, I did have to remove the letter. There was information and names of who is handling this situation they may not want on a public forum. 

I am so sorry you had such a fight to get the support for your son, can I ask is he getting on ok now? 

You can ask them if it will come out the budget / out of their insurance policy. I know it may be a route you do not want to take after the previous lies. You could reach out to Citizen's Advice to see if they could support with your queries. Or, put you in touch with local legal advice. 

I personally don't think it is morally wrong to take the money when your son's education has been affected. There may be a time where he needs extra equipment or resources to catch up on those 15 months. 

66Mustang

Glad to hear of a good result.

I agree with @woodbine r.e. suing people in general and that only you can decide

However in your situation I would be asking myself, is it just my feelings that are hurt or has the situation actually COST me any money - if the latter I would feel justified in pursuing for an amount that leaves me not out of pocket whether that's £500, or more or less

MW123

be96erj said:

Hi forum,

After many years of fighting with our local education authority, we finally managed to get our autistic son into a Sen school. However our LEA persistently made it difficult and lied many times even to the tribunal. Last year we put in a complaint about their lies, and 15 months later (honestly I'm not exaggerating) we got a reply.

We attach a copy of the letter. It would appear they acknowledge their fault/lies and are offering a £500 bribe to keep us silent. 

Does anyone have experience with this? If so:

1. Will the £500 come out of the LEA SEN budget? Or will it's insurance policy pay it out? We ask this as we do not want to take their money if it means schools will be short changed.

2. If it is being funded by an insurance policy, are we being low balled by them? Should we go after more compensation for the stress, anguish and sleepless nights, as well as the 3 years of our son not getting the help he needed, all because the LEA constantly lied?

3. Is taking money for this matter morally wrong? Should we take the money and hand it to our son's school? If so, how much could we get if we negotiated?. It would be nice to buy the school some new iPads or similar!

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

1. It is probable that the £500 would be sourced from the LEA's budget rather than from an insurance policy, which is typically the case for settlements or compensation in situations like yours. However, the specific details would depend on the LEA's financial arrangements.

2. It's understandable that you might feel that the compensation offered by the LEA is not adequate, and that it might seem like a 'bribe' to avoid further scrutiny or legal action. If you are not happy with the LEA's settlement offer and the way the whole situation has been dealt with, you may want to consider making a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, to have the case looked into by an independent body.

3. I have immense respect for your dedication in championing your son's rights. If I were in your situation, my top priority would be to allocate the compensation towards my son's needs.  The impact this situation must have had on him, it's only fitting that he receives the most benefit from it.