Thanks Julie and thank you ewaters (sorry I don't know your name) - I'll definitely have a look at the Smirthwaite one and thanks for the info about having a demo that's great - really helpful

We would use a Wombat over a Vela Tango as the 2 we have had over the years have not been fit for purpose.   The last one we had bits kept falling off every time it was moved and in the end we had to put in a legal complaint and got a large percentage of our money back.  Etac/R82 after care/service  has always been excellent and our Wombats have all lasted well over 10 years.

Out of interest, how many chairs does your SEN LA provide a secondary school? We fund two. How do your schools manage moving chairs around- anyone come up against a resistance to this?

I'm  interested to hear about your Governance around specialist seating provision. You say you fund 2 chairs for a Secondary Schools; do you have any guidance about this that you would be happy to share Kate? What if there are more young people needing chairs; are there any limitations about the type/cost of chair you provide?

We currently provide specialist seating as recommended by OTs if over £1000, but haven't limited numbers of chairs (although there is a limited budget)! Less than £1000 schools are expected to provide it.

Schools have been good about moving chairs, but it's not without it's challenges. We try to involve the young person, parent/carer, OT, SENCo, Advisory Teacher in working through the practicalities.

We (Derby City) also buy and provide up to 2 chairs per YP in a secondary school. Schools have to move chairs - as you say Sarah it's not always easy to move them around but we do cover the total cost of the chairs. It's really helpful hearing what other people do/ fund in terms of specialist seating.