'The system is rotten at the core': Parents threatened for seeking special needs support for their children

LBC has heard claims of schools and local authorities using legal firms ‘to deter, frighten and punish’ special educational needs and disability (SEND) advocates and parents who are trying to obtain documents relating to their child’s care or asking questions in relation to their child’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) - the legal document outlining what support their child is entitled to.

Mike Charles, a senior director at Sinclairs Law, which specialises in Education Law and Special Educational Needs, told LBC the use of cease-and-desist letters is an ‘alarming trend’ and “a direct attack on access to justice”.

“It makes people think that they're doing something terribly wrong. It makes them think that they might face some kind of regulatory action. It makes them think that they might be sued or taken to court. It's extremely frightening and it discourages, in my view, participation."

“It's quite a chilling effect."

Mr Charles has supported families and advocates who’ve received cease and desist letters. He told LBC “some of their experiences stretch back years...some have won SEND Tribunal and judicial review cases, yet report retaliation from schools or councils. Several professionals have faced employment threats or reputational harm.”

He says he would put a number of “conservatively, hundreds” of families and independent advocates that this is happening to.

Mr Charles explained: “What’s worrying is the broader issue of an increasing pattern of safeguarding language being misapplied by schools and trusts to deter, frighten and punish advocates and parents who just want to exercise their statutory rights.”

Recent figures show that more than 400 young people approached their council for special needs support last year – every day. Meanwhile Department for Education data shows that the number of pupils this year in receipt of an EHCP, has now reached over 638,000 young people. That figure has trebled since 2017.

Assistant Secretary General of the National Education Union, Rosamund McNeil, told LBC that because "the system is so stretched [and] resources are so tight, we know unfortunately really difficulty things can end up happening."

Jo is an independent SEN consultant and advocate, employed by families to help them navigate the complicated SEND system. She told LBC she was sent a cease and desist letter from a school trust in April this year, after asking questions the parents she was formally supporting were not getting answers to.

She told LBC “the bottom dropped out of her world” when she received the legal letter, in which the trust warned her not to correspond further with the school or attend its premises, stating they had acted due to certain safeguarding concerns relating to her. The four families she was supporting were also copied into this.

Jo says no such safeguarding concerns had been raised and she has never been the subject of any referral, investigation or restriction. The letter also threatened to report her to the police for harassment if she did visit the school premises.

Jo was able to prove that the school’s claims about safeguarding concerns were false and the trust has now retracted their statement that they acted due to safeguarding concerns and have “apologised for the distress that this statement may have caused”.

But Jo says what’s happened has “had an enormous impact on (her) mental health”.

“I swing between disillusionment and feeling like this is not ever going to get any better… to absolute outrage that this is even happening at all… it has become all encompassing”.

“I really don't understand how the whole thing can be so rotten at the core. You know, they wrote me this incredibly threatening letter basically to stop me from gaining information that was requested via subject access requests.

“It's really awful because often these families are vulnerable anyway and the system that should be supporting them is actually doing all it can to undermine them.”

Read more: Ministers fail to rule out cutting special needs school plans after campaigners warn against the move

Read more: Campaigners urge Government to keep care plans for children with special needs

When approached by LBC, the school declined to comment on Jo's experience but added: "We are committed to supporting all of our children, every day, and providing a stimulating learning environment where they can thrive."

Victoria Symes, a SEN mum and SEN teacher told LBC she thinks the issues experienced generally are down to organisations who “don’t value the opinions of parents”.

Victoria, 36, from Southend says: “They don't believe that when a parent comes to them and says, my child is suffering, my child has anxiety, my child is displaying ASD behaviours at home, my child has SEMH issues… They don't believe that because often they don't have the training to be able to see it and recognise it happening within the school setting.

"So they automatically then assume, well, if it's not happening in school, it can't be true. This is just a parent who has done too much reading. Or this is just a parent who is fighting for something that isn't actually there. So actually there's something wrong with the parent. The parent is often made out to be a lunatic. Crazy… when all they're trying to do is actually fight, even though it shouldn't be a fight, but they're trying to do what is right for their child.”

It's understood the use of cease-and-desist letters is 'not a widespread issue' the government is currently aware of.

But Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford Marie Goldman, who has campaigned for changes to the SEND system, told LBC it is “utterly broken” and has urged the government to act.

“It's not just creaking at the seams, it is completely splintering.

“Parents are having to constantly battle with local authorities to get the support that they need for their children and in some cases it's leading to really devastating situations.

“Every day that we don't do something is another day that a child goes without the support that they need. And not just one child, we're talking thousands upon thousands.

“We're storing up problems for later as well, by not fixing it now."

On hearing about advocates being sent cease and desist letters, Marie Goldman said:

“There's a part of it that makes me really cross, like really quite angry about that… the unfairness of that, the injustice… That would be a really frightening letter to receive when you know that all you're trying to do is to help a family get what they are legally entitled to. But I have to say it also makes me really sad… that this is the point we've got to.”

Senior Solicitor at IPSEA, the leading charity in the field of SEND law in England, Georgina Downard, says:

“There’s a lot of talk about the SEND system being in crisis but not so much on the real reason why - failure to implement the law. The legal framework rightly entitles children and young people with SEND to an education that meets their needs - but while the law is clear, it’s routinely not followed. Families are forced to fight to secure support the law says their children need and are entitled to.

"There are concerning signs that the government may be considering reducing or removing these rights in the name of ‘solving the SEND crisis’. But weakening legal protections cannot be the answer, especially when children are already being denied the support they need. What’s needed is proper implementation of the existing law, and real accountability for local authorities that fail to comply with their legal duties.”

LBC's findings come as the government failed to rule out abolishing EHCPs for young people with special education needs, as campaigners urge they aren't abolished.

Ms McNeil added: "Whether plans need to come or go is the wrong question... it needs to be easier for schools to get that support in place without families having to go through a bureaucratic, long process that can take weeks and often months. We need to boost the support in schools so that there's less of a need to go and get an EHC plan."

Pressed earlier this week on the future of EHCPs, the Department for Education said that it would be "totally inaccurate to suggest that children, families and schools might experience any loss of funding or support".