Family's legal victory opens the door for other parents

Published on Wednesday 1 October 2008 22:45

HUNDREDS of other families battling to get the best education for their child are set to benefit from the McCullochs' legal victory.

Lawyers believe George and Liz McCulloch's successful action against Argyll and Bute Council to secure a place at the Royal Blind School will set a precedent.

The couple faced a lengthy legal battle after the local authority insisted their daughter, who is visually impaired, remain at a mainstream school.

The family claims the council used "underhand tactics", threatening them with a child protection order and hinting that their daughter could be taken into care if they refused to drop the court action.

Mrs McCulloch, from Helensburgh, said: "The tactics used by the council were terrible, to stop us from taking it to court. They were trying to say we were making up her disability.

"What we didn't know was that they had started child protection discussions without telling us in December 2006." Their 15-year-old daughter, who chose not to be named, suffers from a cerebral visual impairment which restricts her peripheral vision.

The teenager started Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh back in 2005, but her parents became increasingly concerned about her welfare after two accidents at the school in which she fell down a flight of stairs.

The girl was offered a place at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, but the council refused funding and the family took the council to court. Mrs McCulloch, 48, estimates the council wasted 50,000 of taxpayers' money on the legal fight.

The family spent thousands of pounds on independent assessments which were used in court to support their case, indicating that their child did have significant learning difficulties.

Mr McCulloch was refused legal aid to fight the case which was launched in August 2007 and dragged on for a year.

The family won their case at Dumbarton Sheriff Court and last month they were awarded costs of about 50,000. Their daughter now has a residential place at the Royal Blind School and enjoys specialist speech and language therapy.

Jackie Baillie, Labour MSP for Dumbarton, paid tribute to the family and said they had "battled every step of the way".

She added: "I'm delighted for the family. The council just didn't want to pay for the placement … and the child's needs got lost in all of that."

A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council refused to comment on the case yesterday.

BACKGROUND

IN 1793, the capital became home to the world's third foundation devoted to the welfare of blind people, as the Edinburgh's Royal Blind School was founded.

The Royal Charter of Incorporation, awarded in 1898, recognised the school for blind children as an operating unit of the Royal Blind Institution and the school was given its royal status.

To begin with, nine blind people were admitted to one of the old houses in what is now Waterloo Place.

Today, the school offers places to pupils with visual impairments from throughout Scotland and the UK.

With both residential and day placements, the school is split between its two sites in Edinburgh. The Canaan Lane Campus and Craigmillar Park Campus have departments that include a pre-school unit for three to five years, as well as primary and secondary.

The purpose-built schools take pupils up to the age of 19 and offer 54 places.

Facilities include access to specialist teaching for all pupils in mobility, music and music therapy, as well as physical education.

The schools also offer 52-week residential places and provide a home for pupils.

The 21st century has seen the development of facilities, including the creation of provision for war-blinded men and women and additionally handicapped children.