Q:
Does the LA have a duty to make a decision, and notify parents of that decision, following an EHC Plan review, if there is an ongoing appeal?
I registered an appeal for my Child’s Ammended Final EHC Plan, the LA had already agreed to review the plan, and indeed after the appeal was registered by tribunal, an EHC Plan review meeting was held; all professionals within that meeting stressed that the named school on my Child’s EHC Plan was unsuitable, the LA now claims that due to the ongoing appeal, they will not finalise the review or issuing a notice of the outcome of the review.
The LA instead intends to make make applicable changes to the working document, based on the review outcomes, but I find that this:
- frustrates my rights to appeal the outcome of the review
- confuses the working document by introducing changes outside of the scope of appeal, e.g. sections A & E
A: SenseCheck
- 0 Yes
- 0 No
- 1 Other
- 23 Jul 2024
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Other
Simple
Can't answer yes or no.:
Mr Daniels,
To summarise, if an appeal is registered with the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) concerning specific sections of an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP), this does not impede the statutory review process laid down in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.
Hence, the review process (and timescales) for an EHCP should still be adhered to, even when an appeal with the Tribunal has been registered.
If an amended EHCP is subsequently issued, this becomes the document that the Local Authority must comply with. Should there still be outstanding issues, instead of the parents or young person initiating a new appeal (which would result in two appeals being registered), the Tribunal should be informed by the parents or young person and the new EHCP should become the working document (refer to Essex CC v DH (SEN) [2016] UKUT 0463 (AAC)). This means that all amendments made can potentially become appealable or possibly subject to amended by the Tribunal who can make consequential amendments - see the Noddy Guide:
12.09 Can the FTT order changes to sections other than B, F and I?
Should a parent or young person be experiencing any difficulty with the above, they can always ask the FtT for a Case Management Hearing to resolve any issues.
It logically follows that if the newly reviewed and amended EHCP resolves all the issues the parents or young person sought the assistance of the FtT with, the appeal can be withdrawn.
Finally, could you please indicate whether this is helpful? Additionally, if you would like to raise any further points, please do so.
Best regards,
Sean Kennedy
Sean Kennedy
Talem Law
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