Decision not to issue a statement: the note in lieu

Where an LEA, having carried out an assessment of a child, decide not to make a statement, they shall within two weeks of the date on which the assessment was completed, write to the child's parents with their decision and tell the parents of their to appeal to the Tribunal against the decision.
(Section 169(1) and Regulation 14(1))

4:17. The statutory assessment process may lead the LEA to the conclusion that the child's special educational needs can be met from within the school's own resources, with or without the intervention of a professional service from outside the school.  The decision not to issue a statement may be disappointing to parents and seen as a denial of additional resources for their child.  Parents may appeal to the Tribunal over a decision not to issue a statement.  The LEA should ensure that parents are aware that resources are available within all maintained schools to meet the majority of special needs of their pupils and that parents fully understand the school-based stages of assessment and the monitoring and review arrangements which will ensure that their child's needs are met by the school, with external support if necessary, in an appropriate way.

4:18. The statutory assessment will have contributed significantly to the school's, parents' and the LEA's knowledge of the child.  The LEA should therefore consider issuing a note in lieu of a statement.

4:19. In such a note the LEA should set out the reasons for their conclusions, with supporting evidence from the statutory assessment of the child.  All advice collected as part of the statutory assessment should be sent to the parents, and, subject to their agreement, to the child's school and any other professionals who have given advice during the assessment process.  This procedure will put to good use the information that emerges from the child's statutory assessment.  The information can be used by those working with the child in school to augment their strategies for meeting the child's special educational needs.  The LEA may wish to arrange a meeting with the parents and the school to discuss the decision and the note.

4:20. In some cases, the LEA may be able to decide very quickly that it is not necessary to make a statement: parents should be informed - by the issue of a written notice under section 169(1) - immediately.  The LEA should always give their reasons.  But the writing of a comprehensive and useful note in lieu will very often require quite as much thought and time as the drafting of a proposed statement.  Indeed, the conclusion as to whether to make a statement or issue a note in lieu may become clear only when the LEA officer marshals all the information and sets out in writing the child's educational and non-educational needs and the provision required to meet those needs.

4:21. There may therefore be advantage in the format of the note in lieu broadly following the statutory format of the statement, although it will always be essential to make clear the different legal status of the two documents.