Is IPSEA scaremongering?

Question: I went to a meeting organised by the Parent Carer organisation with our local authority, which is a Pathfinder. When the topics turned to schools I raised the point about the draft legislation removing rights to ask for assessment and timeframes and was roundly shouted down – 'no that's not the case' and 'the Government's promised it'll be a better system, covering health and social care too.’ I spoke to the event chair at the end of the session to express my concern and to say that I'd got my information from IPSEA. Although she hadn't read IPSEA's information, her opinion was that there'd been 'a lot of scaremongering, particularly by some education lawyers, who seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon and preparing to make a lot of money from the changes.' Is IPSEA scaremongering?

IPSEA’s answer: Because of the early rumours that were flying around the internet, IPSEA has been scrupulous not to scaremonger. We have pointed out what in our view are the good points in the draft legislation, but also have raised significant problems, based on intense and rigorous comparison of the current law with the proposals. Our analyses are available on our web site. No one has disputed our analyses, and indeed they were commended to the Select Committee by several experts. It would of course be advisable for this local group to read our documents before making up their minds. By the way, IPSEA is a charity and we do not make money out of fighting legal cases, nor do we think that is the motive behind any of our legal colleagues’ comments.