[sampvt]

Originally Posted by Josy

She never decided where Harvey would go to school, why do you keep saying otherwise?

I read somewhere this morning that Pricey herself decided to go outside her borough and it was also her decision to hire a nurse and driver to take him to and from his school. That seems to be what all the other posts are inferring but if its wrong then I hold my hand up but I am only saying what everyone else is and it all sounds very strange that the government would be willing to fork out 45 x £1000 a day for all these kids to go to a school 50 miles away. Its not logically economic.

Do the maths, a new school would be peanuts in the face of this scenario, so we can only assume that either Pricey was wrong, her web site is fudging or the other 44 kids are taking second best. You decide.

[Josy]

Originally Posted by sampvt

I read somewhere this morning that Pricey herself decided to go outside her borough and it was also her decision to hire a nurse and driver to take him to and from his school. That seems to be what all the other posts are inferring but if its wrong then I hold my hand up but I am only saying what everyone else is and it all sounds very strange that the government would be willing to fork out 45 x £1000 a day for all these kids to go to a school 50 miles away. Its not logically economic.

Do the maths, a new school would be peanuts in the face of this scenario, so we can only assume that either Pricey was wrong, her web site is fudging or the other 44 kids are taking second best. You decide.

The statement from her management in full:

'Harvey's school placement was assessed and agreed by the Local authority. When this was done transport costs were included in the calculation.

'This was done because Harvey has a Statement of Special Educational Needs because of his disabilities. Within this Statement it includes the name of the school Harvey must attend.

'Where any child that is placed in a school out of their immediate home area it is the Local Authorities DUTY to provide transport that meets the child's needs. This is common practice for all disabled children as there are not enough suitable schools available to them.

'The cost of the school placement together with transport is not means tested as it is provided for the child. Local Authorities do not have special needs schools locally as these have been closed during the last 15 years as it was deemed a cheaper option to transport children out of borough. If Harvey's school was on his doorstep, as with schools for healthy children, then this would not apply but it was the Governments choice to close the special needs schools.

'The education law states that the local authority must provide transport to and from the school that is named in the statement. This must be appropriate to the child’s needs and include the provision of an escort (in Harvey’s case a nurse) who is trained to cope with the child’s medical needs.

'The escort (nurse) is because Harvey’s condition is life threatening and he has to have someone capable of giving emergency injections to save his life.

'Kate's calculation of £1000 per day is based on hiring her private driver and a private nurse, to drive to and from her home to Harvey’s school twice a day (which is 1.5 hrs drive each way). This is not the sum that local authority pays.

.

Numerous posters commented throughout the thread about Katie NOT being the one that decided where he would go

[Pink Pegasus]

Originally Posted by sampvt

I read somewhere this morning that Pricey herself decided to go outside her borough and it was also her decision to hire a nurse and driver to take him to and from his school. That seems to be what all the other posts are inferring but if its wrong then I hold my hand up but I am only saying what everyone else is and it all sounds very strange that the government would be willing to fork out 45 x £1000 a day for all these kids to go to a school 50 miles away. Its not logically economic.

Do the maths, a new school would be peanuts in the face of this scenario, so we can only assume that either Pricey was wrong, her web site is fudging or the other 44 kids are taking second best. You decide.

That was just Katie's estimate of what it would cost her to do it privately, it says in that statement:

Kate's calculation of £1000 per day is based on hiring her private driver and a private nurse, to drive to and from her home to Harvey’s school twice a day (which is 1.5 hrs drive each way). This is not the sum that local authority pays.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by sampvt

I read somewhere this morning that Pricey herself decided to go outside her borough and it was also her decision to hire a nurse and driver to take him to and from his school. That seems to be what all the other posts are inferring but if its wrong then I hold my hand up but I am only saying what everyone else is and it all sounds very strange that the government would be willing to fork out 45 x £1000 a day for all these kids to go to a school 50 miles away. Its not logically economic.

Do the maths, a new school would be peanuts in the face of this scenario, so we can only assume that either Pricey was wrong, her web site is fudging or the other 44 kids are taking second best. You decide.

The 1,000 was an example that KP gave about her own transport costs, this is not what it is costing Harvey, when they say "a driver" they mean a local mini cab firm, and when they say a nurse, they mean an escort trained in administering either epi pen or injections who will be a normal wage, it will cost no where near 1,000 a day and obviously it is far less than building and staffing a local school so obviously it is the cheapest option for the Local Education Authority.