Were Haringey parents misled in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) recommissioning "consultation"?
- By Brian Leveson
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- 27 Feb, 2021
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Was the Haringey Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) "consultation" rushed over less than 2 weeks at the beginning of this year, to be completed 2 days before a Local Government Ombudsman decision critical of the local authority and the SENDIASS service was published?
What is the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) ?
The legal requirement for this service is set out in the Children & Families Act 2014
According to the Council for Disabled Children: As part of the Children and Families Act 2014 it is a legal requirement that all local authorities ensure children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) & their parents have access to an impartial Information, Advice and Support (IAS) service.
This is covered in Chapter 2 of the SEND Code of Practice (January 2015)(Link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3988...)
This is covered in Chapter 2 of the SEND Code of Practice (January 2015)(Link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3988...)
What does the SEND Code of Practice say about coproducing the SENDIASS service?
The SEND Code of Practice, paragraph 2.6 states
Local authorities should involve children, young people and parents (including local Parent Carer Forums and Youth Forums) in the design or commissioning of services providing information, advice and support in order to ensure that those services meet local needs. Local authorities should do this in a way which ensures that children, young people and parents feel they have participated fully in the process and have a sense of co-ownership. Chapters 3 and 4 give further detail on how local authorities should engage these groups in planning, commissioning and reviewing services, and in developing the Local Offer.
Local authorities should involve children, young people and parents (including local Parent Carer Forums and Youth Forums) in the design or commissioning of services providing information, advice and support in order to ensure that those services meet local needs. Local authorities should do this in a way which ensures that children, young people and parents feel they have participated fully in the process and have a sense of co-ownership. Chapters 3 and 4 give further detail on how local authorities should engage these groups in planning, commissioning and reviewing services, and in developing the Local Offer.
Haringey's SEN (D)? newsletter states the following about "engagement" to recommission the SENDIASS service offered by the Haringey SEND department
The Council is continuing to co-produce services with parent/carers and all parent/carers were invited to attend one of three engagement events in January to discuss re-commissioning the SENDIASS in Haringey and to gather their views and comments. 26 parents attended in total and they shared their views and experiences which was helpful and informative and have been used to shape the new service specification.
Following the events eight parent/carers volunteered to be on the working group to co-design the service specification and 4 parents have volunteered to be part of the evaluation panel. The tender process will take place over the next few months and parents/carers will be updated on the outcome.
The Council would like to thank the parent/carers who volunteered to be involved in co-producing these services and it has been a great opportunity for the council and parent/carers to work together to improve services for children and young people with SEND and their families.
Haringey SEND department and the Haringey SENDIASS service offered by Haringey were recently criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman
In a decision made on 9th November 2020,
but only published on 15th January 2021, the Local Government Ombudsman found "...the Council wrongly refused to provide [the complainant] with an Education Health and Care Plan, and then failed to provide appropriate support for [the complainant] to appeal this decision. The Council’s failure to carry out an assessment of [the complainants] needs within the required timeframe amounts to fault. As does the failure to provide appropriate advice and support to submit an appeal. These faults have caused ... an injustice".
But the SENDIASS engagement was limited to 3 sessions over 2 days at just over a weeks notice and ended on 13th January 2021.
Link: 19 012 157 - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
But the SENDIASS engagement was limited to 3 sessions over 2 days at just over a weeks notice and ended on 13th January 2021.
Link: 19 012 157 - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
There are questions to be asked about the SENDIASS "engagement"
SENDIASS engagement seemed to have been rushed and completed in less than 2 weeks before the announcement of a Local Government Ombudsman decision that was critical of the service.
Because we do not know, because we did not attend the meeting and because there are no published minutes, we do not know if the 26 parents who attended were aware of that decision, made on 9th November 2020, but not published until 15th January 2021 - 2 days after the 2 days of engagement ended - and therefore had the opportunity to consider all the facts about theSENDIASS service offered by the Haringey SEND department .
However, more parents may have attended the meeting following the Local Ombudsman decision that is critical of the service.
Because we do not know, because we did not attend the meeting and because there are no published minutes, we do not know if the 26 parents who attended were aware of that decision, made on 9th November 2020, but not published until 15th January 2021 - 2 days after the 2 days of engagement ended - and therefore had the opportunity to consider all the facts about theSENDIASS service offered by the Haringey SEND department .
However, more parents may have attended the meeting following the Local Ombudsman decision that is critical of the service.
Was the SENDIASS engagement rushed over a period of less that 2 weeks to be completed 2 days before a decision critical of the Haringey SEND department and the Haringey SENDIASS service offered by Haringey was published?
Please note: Local Government Ombudsman decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint.
The Local Government Ombudsman decision critical of the Haringey SEND department and the Haringey SENDIASS service offered by Haringey was made on 9th November 2020.
On the 4th January 2021 parents were invited to attend via an email that stated "We mentioned in the newsletter that we would like to work in partnership with parents and carers to re-commission for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service for the next couple of years. We will be holding 3 sessions on:
Link to the Local Ombudsman decision: 19 012 157 - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
The Local Government Ombudsman decision critical of the Haringey SEND department and the Haringey SENDIASS service offered by Haringey was made on 9th November 2020.
On the 4th January 2021 parents were invited to attend via an email that stated "We mentioned in the newsletter that we would like to work in partnership with parents and carers to re-commission for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service for the next couple of years. We will be holding 3 sessions on:
Tuesday 12 January 10.30am – 12 noon
Tuesday 12 January 5.30pm – 7pm
Wednesday 13 January 10.30 – 12 noon"
Apart from information about online meetings, there was no other paperwork and facts sent out with this invitation.
Haringey's Consultation Charter says that they will "provide enough information about consultation to help people make an informed contribution. We will include information about other issues and facts being considered by decision-makers alongside the consultation results".
The Local Government Ombudsman decision was published on 15th January 2021.
Link to the Local Ombudsman decision: 19 012 157 - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If you thought SEND was bad - the NHS is seemingly prepared to throw away money to private companies
About 3 or 4 times a year we get the euphemistic message 'Parents please note we have put a letter in your child's bag' - its a world away from how a child's death was handled in my child's first school
More of a trial by ordeal than a well organised clearly set out administrative process for moving the care of vulnerable young adults from Haringey's Children's Services to Adult Services. We have been failed at every stage of the process.
Never EVER get on the bus without a camera running if you need the priority wheelchair space
The reality of using a London Bus in the teeming rain on a Sunday afternoon is no joke when the parents of a paraplegic person in a wheelchair clash with the self-entitled buggy-pushing parents of toddlers.
At 3pm today I received some barefaced lies from Haringey Council Adult Social Care in response to a photograph I published online yesterday and the media interest it generated
Haringey SEND Transport are insisting that a 17 year old minibus with no air conditioning is a suitable vehicle to transport my paraplegic son in this heatwave. The appalling conditions inside the minibus inside the bus is something they knew about last summer, yet they have to date done nothing whatsoever provide a suitable minibus this year nor appropriately mitigate the temperatures inside the minibus.The conditions inside the minibus are so bad that they triggered multiple seizures during the heatwave as my son has epilepsy, which they SEND transport department know about and they also know that they are triggered by heat.It is not just son who is impacted: last year we know of one child who died on Haringey SEND Transport in the summer heatwave and another who had seizures.
I am simply asking a question - are we all absolutely certain that the road closure / travel restrictions (commonly know as LTNs) placed on some of the most severely disabled people who are wholly reliant on cars are absolutely necessary
Haringey's road closures exemptions policy for disabled people is not fit for purpose, unduly burdensome and intrusive - it's time to stand up against the pro-LTN lycra-clad cycling bullies
Is the argument for and against exemptions for disabled people in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods really a case of GOOD versus EVIL?
