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Here are a few examples of caselaw relating to statements.

1. L v Clarke and Somerset County Council 1997 where the judge said that

“in very many cases it will not be possible to fulfil the requirement to specify the special educational provision considered appropriate to meet the child’s needs, including specification of staffing arrangements and curriculum, unless hours per week are set out.”

2. The courts have also said that vague Statements that only describe provision in terms of a band or cash figure, or position on a matrix are unlawful. This LEA practice would not be enough to satisfy the requirement to specify provision in part 3 of a Statement. The judge in the case R vs. Cumbria County Council ex parte P 1994 said that the appeal process would be impossible to operate if the parent did not know the nature of the provision that the authority intended to make.

3. In the case of C vs. Special Educational Needs Tribunal and London Borough of Greenwich (1999)
ELR 5 the judge determined that LEA’s should not delegate their duty to someone else.

4. R vs. The Secretary of State for Education and Science, ex parte E (1992) 1 ELR 377, concerns the requirement for the statement to include all of a child’s special educational needs, and the provision to meet those needs. Ex parte E, which says that a need in part 2 of a statement must have a corresponding provision in part 3.

5. Somerset County Council judgement which says the statement must leave no room for doubt as to what has been decided is necessary in the individual case, and hours per week of provision should be set out.

In addition, there is the speech by Minister Baroness Ashton speaking about the wording of the new Code of Practice in the House of Lords She said,

“We have said that we would always wish to see specification take place. I underline the word “always”. She went on to say that “The provision must be specific as to what is provided and it must be quantified in most circumstance…. We believe that there is a need to have a little flexibility. But I put it on record that that does not mean that LEA’s should do anything other than normally quantify.”

There are also “four historic court cases” on the IPSEA website