3:34.   The health services and social services departments are not obliged to respond within six weeks if they have had no relevant knowledge of the child concerned prior to their receipt of a copy of the LEA's notice to parents that they propose to make an assessment or the LEA's letter notifying the health services and the SSD that they have received a request for an assessment.  In those circumstances, however, the health service and social services departments should make every effort to respond promptly.  In most cases, the health services will have some knowledge of the child as a result of the child's school seeking medical advice at stages 1-3.

3:35.   Having received all the advice, the LEA must decide whether they need to make a statement.  They must make that decision within ten weeks of issuing the notice under
section 167(4).

3:36.   If the LEA decide that a statement is necessary, they must draft a proposed statement and send a copy to the child's parents within two weeks.  If they decide that a statement is not necessary, they must notify parents of that decision, giving their reasons, preferably in the form of a note in lieu of the statement, also within two weeks.  The period from the issue of the notice under 167(4) to the issue of a proposed statement or a note in lieu of a statement should therefore normally be no more than 12 weeks.

3:37.   Normally, the LEA will receive all the necessary advice within six weeks of the issue of the notice under section 167(4).  Then they have a further six weeks in which to send the parents documented evidence of the outcome of the assessment: they must decide whether to make a statement within four weeks; and send parents a proposed statement or their written reasons why they will not make a statement, preferably in the form of a note in lieu, within a further two weeks.  In practice, particularly if the LEA write notes in lieu with the same care as they write statements, attaching all the advice they have received (see paragraphs 4:17 - 4:23), the decision as to whether to write a statement or a note in lieu will often involve preparing a draft which can then take either form, according to the result of the LEA's deliberations.  Deciding whether to make a statement and recording the results of the decision will be part and parcel of the same process.  The critical point is that the parents must normally receive written evidence of the outcome of the assessment within 12 weeks of the start of the statutory assessment.

3:38:   On receipt of the proposed statement, parents have a right to state a preference for the maintained school their child should attend and to make representations to, and hold meetings with, the LEA.  The LEA must normally issue the final statement within eight weeks of the issue of the proposed statement.

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