Sir – I wholeheartedly concur with Jill Davies from Contact a Family (Letters, September 24).
There is tremendous confusion about the new Children’s and Families’ Act 2014 relating to special educational needs and parental rights.
It is not only the parents and some schools who seem to be struggling to make sense of the changes, there are a few local authorities who are misinterpreting their new legal duties too.
IPSEA – Independent Parental Special Education Advice – is a registered charity and offers free and independent legally-based information, advice and support to help get the right education for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities.
I urge parents to read our detailed website where there are lots of free and downloadable resources on ipsea.org.uk
We, too, have a free helpline on 0800 018 4016 open five days a week, including some evenings, a tribunal helpline and a callback service. I work as an advice line volunteer and hope you will publish this letter with our contact details. We do get busy but encourage parents to keep on trying and, above all, look at the website.
S Bowers
By email
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