Vijay Puri, 44, has been fighting against Hertfordshire County Council for the past four years after the council failed to provide a local school for his son who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. It is the most common motor disability in childhood and Mr Puri says his 16-year-old son, Meet Puri, was diagnosed with the condition since birth.
Mr Puri moved to Hertfordshire county in 2017 and was told the council was unable to provide a local school for Meet due to lack of space. Instead, Meet was placed at a school in Brent, a 45-minute car journey from Hertfordshire.
Mr Puri was told the council would try to place his son in a local school once a space became available. However, Mr Puri said, “It’s been four years living in South Oxhey now and Hertfordshire Council have not offered Meet a place at any local schools.”
After a number of attempts in contacting Hertfordshire Council over the years, Mr Puri said the issue has remained unresolved. He said: “Before Christmas, I called the council three or four times asking for a place at a local school but got no response.”
Hertfordshire Council did provide transport to and from school for Meet but at the beginning of this year, Mr Puri was told he would now have to contribute £518 per term towards funding transport for Meet as he is now over 16.
Mr Puri said £518 is a “huge amount” for his family and was told by the council he would need to contribute towards transport or Meet would have to use public transport to get to school like other children.
Meet’s one-way commute to school on public transport would take over two hours and because of his cerebral palsy, Mr Puri believes the mental and physical stress on Meet would be too much.
Since Meet’s transport was ceased by the council a week before Christmas, Mr Puri has been attempting to contact the council.
Meet has been unable to go to school for the last two weeks and is feeling “depressed, discriminated against, and let down by the council and education ministry,” said Mr Puri.
He said the council remained “unresponsive” until a few days ago when he finally received an email from Councillor Christopher Alley who said he “cannot promise anything but will try to get an explanation for Hertfordshire County Council’s decision regarding your son’s transport.”
Mr Puri said he is left wondering if his son and family are being discriminated against by the council. He wonders how there has been no availability in any of the local schools in the past four years and why the council are comparing his son’s school commute with other kids who have no special needs.
According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the prevalence of cerebral palsy in the UK is about two per 1000 live births. This figure has not changed significantly in the past forty years.
Mr Puri and his wife Rajni, 42, are finding it very difficult to see their son depressed and so upset. He said, “We see him sad and depressed, and we feel helpless and very disturbed to see his already difficult life get even more stressful.”
Mr Puri and his wife continue to resolve the situation with Hertfordshire County Council.
