Template Letters
to support
Your Disability
Template or sample letters can provide a starting point to communicating with statutory authorities about issues affecting either yourself or as a parent of a disabled child.
If you copy and paste the letter(s) into a Word document you can then personalise the letter with your own additions and information.
Do remember to either save your copy of the letter or print a copy for your reference.
Listed below are a collection of template letters from different organisations on a range of topics and letters on specific disability laws and issues.
Organisations
Cerebra have created a series of template letters to help families write to their local council or other statutory services.
- We want to make a complaint about social services
- Council and/or health officials are arguing about who’s responsible for helping us
- We want something confirmed in writing
- The council/health body has said ‘we don’t / can’t do that’
- We haven’t had an answer to our first letter
- The council is blaming a lack of resources
- We’re still waiting for the council to arrange the support we need
- The council has put us in an ‘impossible position’
- We want to see the personal information that the council / health body holds about us
- We want to ask for information under the Freedom of Information Act
- We want to request an assessment of our family’s needs
- The council still hasn’t completed our assessment or provided any interim support
- The council says that our child isn’t ‘eligible’ for support
- The council wants to reduce our child’s package of care
The letters may be downloaded from the Cerebra website
If you have a child in hospital and your DLA is stopped or taken away, Contact has created a template review letter asking for A child’s DLA payments to be reinstated while they are in hospital
It has also created:
Two template letters and guidance on challenging cuts to short break services (with guidance notes):
- Challenging cuts to short break budget
- Challenging actual or proposed cut to services
Three template letters to challenge decisions if your access to free childcare for 2 to 4 years olds has been denied.
- Challenging a failure to make reasonable adjustments by a childcare provider
- Requesting ‘top up’ funding from a local authority when there is no legal duty on the childcare provider to make a reasonable adjustment.
- Challenging a local authority’s failure to make sure there is enough childcare provision in its area.
The letters are available as separate downloads and are included in leaflet “Childcare for families with disabled children”
There are also two template letters for parents affected by the Bedroom Tax:
- For privately rented housing
- For Social housing
All template letters can be downloaded from the Resource Library of the Contact a Family website- - use Search box.
Contact has also produced a useful group action guide to "Writing a Press Release and Speaking to the Media" for local and national support groups in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
The guide contains a sample press release.
Citizens Advice has a large number of sample letters covering consumer rights, debt, money, healthcare, housing and work.
They include:
- Letter of complaint about adult social care
- Letter of complaint about adult social care on behalf of someone else
- Letter of complaint about the NHS
- Letter of complaint about the NHS on behalf of someone else
Letters can be found on the Citizens Advice website - Use Search box (separate websites for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
Independent Support
Independent support has created 17 template letters to assist professionals and families in writing letters to address issues they may be experiencing.
- Request for an EHC (Education, Health and Care) needs assessment
- Chasing the outcome of EHC needs assessment request
- Requesting amendments to draft EHC plan
- Chasing final EHC plan
- Request for a personal budget
- Request for a direct payment
- Request for a review of the decision to refuse direct payments
- Request for s17 assessment
- Request for s47 assessment
- Request for carers assessment under Children Act 1989
- Request information on the local offer
- Request for information, advice and support
- Request for an advocate by a young person
- Complaint regarding failure to work together
- Complaint regarding failure to arrange provision
- Chasing outcome of annual review
- Chasing outcome of the request for amendments to an EHC plan
The Letters can be downloaded from the council for Disabled Children’s website:
www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk
IPSEA provide 11 model letters to different situations parents may encounter with their local authority.
- Request an Education, Health and Care needs assessment
- Request a re-assessment
- To respond to the draft EHC plan sent by the LA
- Objecting to the amendments the LA is proposing to an existing EHC plan
- Asking for an early review of an EHC plan
- Complaining when the special educational provision on the EHC plan is not being made
- Complaining when an EHC needs assessment is not being carried out properly
- Complaining when the LA has not completed the annual review of an Education and Health Plan
- Complaining when the LA does not respond to a request for an EHC needs assessment within the 6 week time limit
- Complaining when the LA has not issued the final EHC Plan following assessment
- Complaining when the LA has not issued the final EHC Plan following transition
The model letters can be accessed through the “What you need to know” section
The National Autistic Society has a number of template letters for writing to your local authority or the Department of Work and Pensions.
The letters include:
- Request for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in England
- Request for a Statutory Assessment in Wales
- Request for an assessment for a child in Northern Ireland
- Request for an assessment for a child in Scotland
- Request for housing support for a child
All template letters can be found at www.autism.org.uk/letters-and-complaints
Disability Laws and Issues
Disability Discrimination
Epilepsy Action have produced a template disability discrimination letter referring to the Equality Act 2010
A Word document can be downloaded from the About Us section of the Epilepsy Action website
Action on Hearing Loss provides guidelines for writing a complaint letter if you have experienced poor service or other forms of discrimination.
Details can be found in the Rights and Benefits section of the Action on Hearing Loss website
www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk
Health and Social Care Law
The solicitors Irwin Mitchell have produced a number of template letters and guidance information that can be downloaded from their website
They include:
- Challenging a refusal to assess your disabled child for specialist services
- Rights to NHS Funded Treatment – Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy
- Request for S47 Assessment of Needs
- Request to consider eligibility for Community Care Support
Housing
Shelter offer template letters to your landlord or local council about tenancy deposits, repairs, homelessness or housing benefit. There is a separate website for England and Scotland.
Citizens Advice provides sample letters on housing repairs.
Housing Rights for Northern Ireland have a letter generator to help you write letters to your landlord or housing association.
Employment
Working Families have created a template letter on requesting flexible working under the 80F Employment Rights Act 1996.
Best Interest Decisions
A new tool has been produced to help ensure families are involved in Best Interest Decisions. Ambitious about Autism, Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation have worked with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors to create a useful resource highlighting the rights of families under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
This free tool includes a downloadable leaflet and two template letters, available from the Irwin Mitchell website.
It aims to support parents who are concerned that they are not being properly consulted about decisions that social care or health professionals are making about their son or daughter from the age of 18.
These may be decisions about where the person lives, what care they are getting, how they spend their time, or medical treatment.
www.irwinmitchell.com/activities/best-interest-decisions-tool
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