Cyflwynwyd yr ymateb hwn i ymchwiliad y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg i weithredu diwygiadau addysg

This response was submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee inquiry into Implementation of education reforms

IER 65

Ymateb gan: Unigolyn
Response from: Individual

Nodwch eich barn mewn perthynas â chylch gorchwyl yr ymchwiliad. | Record your views against the inquiry’s terms of reference. 

Please see below the discriminatory way families are being treated.
What will do to stop this discrimination to continue for families; this needs to be brought to the attention of Senedd.

As a family we have recently been through the ETW process and would like to highlight several concerning issues with Children’s commissioner.

The Vale of Glamorgan are bringing a Barrister to ETW against parents who are without legal representation; I know of 3 families within 6 weeks. December 2024- January 2025
How is this a fair or just system or just discrimination.

The irony when the LA claim unable to provide EOTAS due to the public purse but then bring a barrister to the cases.
Do the head of ALN departments not have the appropriate knowledge to handle these cases?
Especially as the council have an operations and internal legal team.

This needs to be investigated as it’s hard enough navigating the process as a family without this power in balance.

As it is I feel very strongly that ETW isn’t a supportive process for families especially if they are neurodivergent themselves and is actually extremely discriminatory.
There is no free support to go thru this process, +SNAP decline support; I reached out to various organisations and politicians with no avail.
(+ Not that SNAP is the independent advocacy service that everyone states as it’s funded by each local authority.)

There are no organisations or charities to guide families. As someone who receives support thru access to work due to my disability I think this is a massive inequality for our disability’s as parents.

I urge the Children’s commissioner takes this to Welsh Government and looks at how this can be addressed. Especially when we see that the statistics regarding children ALN needs vs SEN needs.
In 2016-2017 92,000 children were recognised as having SEN needs
To 2023-2024 reduced to only 52,152.

How can we have such a reduced recognition of need ?
Therefore more families will need to use ETW, with no support to navigate the system.
This is a discrimination to ALN children who already are facing a disadvantages to their peers.