Placement request parents must wait longer for decision
School letters may not be sent until end of month
STEPHEN BARK
Parents in South Lanarkshire waiting to hear the results of school placing requests may have to wait until the end of this month to find out.
Education secretary John Swinney has written to local authorities advising that the deadline for informing parents of their decisions has been pushed back to May 31 due to the coronavirus crisis.
Despite this, South Lanarkshire Council have said they want decision letters sent to parents by May 18.
New education-specific coronavirus regulations have come into force meaning that the timescales for placing requests have been amended to help councils cope during the pandemic.
Requests – including those for additional support needs placings – received before the original March 15 deadline should be dealt with by May 31 – one month later than scheduled.
Parents will then have 28 days from the end of May deadline to appeal the decision.
Requests made after March 15 should receive a decision within three months rather than two.
Anyone who does not receive a decision letter within those new timescales, is deemed as a refusal by default.
In his letter, Deputy First Minister Mr Swinney said: “We know that Covid-19 has caused disruption to our education system and we are hugely appreciative for all the work that has been undertaken by local authorities, schools and other local partners to respond to the challenges of recent months.
“The Scottish Government’s view is that procedures and timescales as amended by the 2020 Regulations apply to all cases, including these cases where an appeal has already been received.
“Authorities will want to seek their own legal advice if they are in doubt regarding the application of the 2020 Regulations to cases in their area.”
The appeals process could take around three times longer than usual due to the amended regulations.
Originally, the Education Appeal Committee (EAC) would be required to arrange an appeal hearing within 14 days of an appeal request.
This is no longer the case and, unless there are exceptional circumstances, the hearing only needs to take place within three months of the appeal request rather than 28 days.
For additional support needs placings, a failure by the EAC to make a decision on an appeal is deemed a refusal after four months instead of two and the deadline for EACs to communicate their decision is extended to 28 days.
For exclusion appeals – the deemed refusal deadline remains one month from an appeal being received by the committee.
A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council added: “The Depute First Minister has issued a notice to all councils advising of an amendment to the Placing Request Regulations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Placing request decisions received by March 15 for the next school session were legally required to be intimated to parents before April 30.
“Due to the operational consequences for education authorities due to Covid-19 the government has extended the deadline of April 30 to May 31.
However, South Lanarkshire Council is working towards having decisions sent out to parents around May 18.”