Statements explained

Statements are unusual in law in that, if properly drafted, they provide for the most comprehensive rights for disabled people in any area of social welfare law.

A statement should be drafted by reference to a child's needs and not directly by reference to resources, though the necessary provision to meet those needs should be set out in the statement.

With thanks to David Ruebain, education and disability lawyer (England) for compiling this article

Assessments

The process of obtaining a statement through a statutory assessment may be commenced by an LA of its own volition, or following a request from the child's parents or school.

An assessment involves the LA obtaining reports from a number of individuals, including the parents themselves, the child in question, an LA educational psychologist, the school or early years provision, the local health and social services authorities and others.

At the conclusion of the assessment the LA will consider whether or not the evidence gathered indicates that the child requires a statement (in other words, whether the child's needs are such as to require the LA to arrange the additional or different provision - the SEP).

If so, the LA will produce a draft statement for consideration by the parents. The LA will invite comment on the contents of the statement, including which school the parents consider appropriate for the child. The LA will then consider the representations, including which school the parents have requested, and will issue a final statement. It is at this point that the statement comes into force.

Time limits for assessments

The assessment process - from first consideration by the LA to production of a final statement - should not exceed six months in total (although there are exceptions which permit that period to be exceeded in certain limited circumstances). Within this six-month period, the following specific time limits apply:

• 6 weeks to consider whether to conduct a statutory assessment
• 10 weeks to undertake the assessment
• 2 weeks to produce a draft statement of SEN
• 8 weeks to finalise the statement.

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Contents of a statement

The contents of statements are prescribed in law as follows:

Part 1: This must contain basic details about the child, including the name, date of birth, address, religion, home language and telephone number, together with the names and contact details of the child's parents. This part will also list the advice and evidence which the LA has obtained in the assessment and which has been considered in drafting the statement.

Part 2: This should contain details of all of the child's SEN.

Part 3: This should describe all of the SEP required to meet the needs identified in Part 2. Part 3 is often defined as being analogous to a 'prescription' to meet the 'diagnosis' of needs which has been set out in Part 2. The law requires that, usually, the provision sh...