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Magna Academy in Poole has been in the news today over the fining of a parent who refused to send her daughter to school to take part in two activity days at the end of the term. The regular timetable was suspended and replaced with the activities, some of...
The Administrative Court in Cardiff has permitted a final hearing of Judicial Review proceedings to challenge the cutback of education for young people with special educational needs in Cornwall.
The government recently held a consultation on home education, due to a growing increase in the number (estimated 57,600) of children and young people being educated at home. However, in its conclusion of the consultation response, the government does not...
1. What are Employment Tribunals? Employment Tribunals are independent judicial bodies who resolve disputes between employers and employees over employment rights. They will hear claims such as unfair dismissal, breach of contract, discrimination,...
Dr Keith Lomax, our Judicial Review Specialist, successfully brought proceedings against a local council in Huddersfield on behalf of his client, whose allotments were being seized. The National Allotments Society tried to join the proceedings, which they...
The Autism Act 2009 was designed to bring about changes in the way adults with autism were treated by local authorities and NHS organisations. It is the only condition-specific legislation of its type in England and although references adults, has been...
Families in Wiltshire have been successful in their bid to challenge the Council’s proposals to close down three schools for children with complex needs and disabilities. Dr Keith Lomax of Watkins Solicitors in Bristol & Bath , who...
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal This Tribunal hears appeals about EHC needs assessments and EHC Plans as well as claims of disability discrimination. The number of appeals is on the rise; between 2018 and 2019 the Tribunal has seen...
A report published this week by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in response to a complaint against Cornwall Council, highlights three key areas that we find are repeated failings throughout the country. The Ombudsman identified that...
Watkins’ solicitor Dr Keith Lomax, who specialises in challenging public bodies, is instructed by parent groups supporting two of the schools that the council plans to close. Friends of Larkrise School in Trowbridge and St Nicholas School in Chippenham...
We were delighted to exhibit at the dementia friendly Bath conference, which was excellently organised by Bath & North East Somerset Dementia Action Alliance (“Bath DAA”) at the Guildhall in Bath on Thursday 7th February 2019. There was...
Dr Keith Lomax , our judicial review & regulatory specialist, was interviewed by Ben Prater on BBC Radio Wiltshire this morning. The topic of conversation was Wiltshire Council's proposals to close special schools in Chippenham and Trowbridge....
As you may have heard in the news today, a judgment has been handed down in the Supreme Court in a case that involved a number of linked appeals including ’W’ for whom our Judicial Review & Public Law Specialist, Keith Lomax , has been...
The Guardian has published an article in relation to ‘special needs pupils being failed by system on verge of crisis’. Their investigation has shown that the current rate of success for parents at SEN Tribunal hearings is now at 89%. It is...
The Tribunal Service has launched new guidance for Tribunal bundles in SEN appeals which could have key ramifications when providing independent reports as evidence. Whereas it is often the case that these reports are highly detailed and therefore lengthy,...
The Government has been seeking views and evidence on school exclusion practice as part of a review of school exclusions. In 2015/16, 0.08% of children were permanently excluded from Local Authority maintained schools in England, although children...
We receive a number of phone calls from parents who want to know if they can access their child’s school records. The answer is generally, yes. If your child attends a maintained school, you have an independent right of access to your...
Speaking to MP’s on the Commons Education Select Committee, Baroness Warnock, who issued a report 40 years ago about services for children with special educational needs and disabilities needing to change, along with other key figures that led to the...
Following on from previous articles, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have continued to carry out joint inspections to consider how Local Authorities have implemented the changes set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to the...
A recent decision from the Upper Tribunal, GK v North Somerset Council (2018) has upheld a parent’s appeal in respect of when a Local Authority is required to provide special educational provision outside of school term times. The child in question...
Two sets of parents have recently taken Bristol City Council to court for a judicial review of the council’s continuing cuts to funding for pupils with SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities). The first case of its kind, the basis of the...
Well done to family solicitor, Joanne Davies, who received a lovely box of chocolates from a grateful client....
The week of 21-27 May 2018 was Dementia Action Week and the emphasis this year was on taking action “to improve the everyday lives of people affected by dementia”. Our trainee solicitor, Lisa Morgan, who is also a Dementia Friends...
Sheldon Price is pictured with a lovely bunch of flowers given to her by a very happy client today. ...
News in the last few days has focused on statistics that demonstrate there is a shortage of funding for children with special educational needs, which is leading to a growing number of children being left without suitable school places and more children with...
We are delighted to have taken further steps to implement our action plan in becoming a dementia-friendly law firm and are now members of the Bristol DAA , South Gloucestershire DAA and Bath DAA (“Dementia Action Alliance”). We have already...
From 1 April 2018, a new "Land Transaction Tax" will be payable on Welsh and transactions. This is instead of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). There are however some exceptions: retrospective notification cases . This is where a transaction...
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND) will soon be able to make non-binding recommendations on the health and social care aspects of a child or young person’s EHC Plans, alongside the educational needs and provision currently...
From 1 April 2018, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will come into effect which means that Landlords will not be able to renew or begin any lease/tenancy for any residential or commercial property which has an EPC Rating below E...
Managing Partner, Beverley Watkins, was recently asked to provide comment on the Ministry of Justice's Legal Advice Gateway for an article in the Law Society Gazette. The Legal Advice Gateway is a telephone service which provides advice on...
In 2013 under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the government decided to fund advice and assistance on special educational needs and discrimination work only through a telephone advice service. There are currently two providers of this service to cover England and Wales. However, a decision has been issued this week that the government will cancel the telephone advice service and will not be awarding any contracts for education and discrimination services after 1 September 2018 through the current process...
The most common question conveyancers are asked is "how long will the process take?" It varies depending on which conveyancer you speak to although generally, you are looking at around 6-8 weeks if it is straightforward and 8-12 weeks if it...
A challenge led by Mr Mundy and chartered surveyor Mr Wyatt of Parthenia Valuation to reduce leasehold extension costs was unsuccessful at the Court of Appeal. The case in question Mundy v the Sloane Estate , involved a small flat in Chelsea where the...
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have conducted a joint inspection of Lancashire Local Authority to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing special educational needs and disability reforms, as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. ...
A joint inspection of South Gloucestershire Council’s SEN and Disabilities provisions carried out by both Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recently published its findings highlighting areas both of strength and need in the Local...
We are delighted to announce that Watkins Solicitors are in the process of becoming a dementia-friendly law firm, starting in January 2018. We are now members of the South Gloucestershire and Bristol Dementia Action Alliance, and planning to extend this in Bath where we have recently opened a new office...
For those children who are transferring into a new stage of education from September 2018, parents should receive the final EHC plan naming the placement for September 2018 by 15 February 2018...
Watkins Solicitors are delighted to announce the opening of our new office in Bath.
The firm has a contract to carry out Legal Aid work from this office, which is situated in the centre of Bath...
The BBC has recently been featuring a number of articles relating to children with special educational needs. It has focused on TV presenters David and Carrie Grant, who have four children, each with a separate set of special educational needs. ...
The 31st March 2018 represents the final date by which all Local Authorities in England need to have transferred all Statements of Special Educational Needs into Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC Plans). This deadline is as a result of a change in...
From Spring 2018 a new approach will be adopted by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) to tackle the issue of one parent turning a child against the other following separation. This problem is known as parental alienation and is...
Sheldon Price says it is not clear how many cases may be affected by the warning which the Government has issued in respect of cases concerning Trimega between 2010 and 2014. Any clients who may have been affected should obtain legal advice as soon as...
Beverley Watkins explains that remarrying before sorting out financial matters from a first divorce can have catastrophic consequences. If a party to a divorce proceedings remarries before they have dealt with the financial aspects of their divorce,...
Following a 2017 pilot trial involving 17 Local Authorities, the SEND Tribunal has agreed to make non-binding recommendations on the health and social care sections of a child or young person’s EHC Plan. The Tribunal will be able to make these...
A Personal Budget is an amount of money identified by the Local Authority to deliver provision set out in a child or young person’s EHC Plan where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision. A child’s parent or the young...
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has recently published its focus report on its first 100 investigations into identified issues with the Education, Health and Care Plan system. The Local Government Ombudsman is a free service for parents of children with special education needs and disabilities to utilise if parents believe there has been...
The Education Department of Watkins Solicitors held another successful SEN Conference, this time in Redruth, Cornwall, for parents of children who have special education needs and disabilities. Lydia Dunford spoke about EHC Needs Assessments and...
The legal parents of a child in cases of surrogacy are the surrogate mother and either the man or woman the surrogate mother was married to or was in a civil partnership with at the time of treatment if they consented to the treatment. The time of treatment is when the embryo or sperm and eggs were placed into the surrogate mother via artificial insemination.
Staff had a wonderful evening at the Annual Bristol Law Society Awards and, to round it off, Beverley Watkins won the award for Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year! When presenting the award, the following was said: "To Beverley...
