Sort

• 10 Nov 2024

• Other

  Other

  Other ...:

  Gordon

  An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCp) must be reviewed 12 months from its issuance date and then within each subsequent 12-month period, as stipulated in s 44(1) The Children and Families Act 2014. This means that ‘terms’ are not relevant time units for reviews in this context. 

   

  However, r 18 (1) The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 specifies additional occasions when a review of an EHCp is necessary, namely prior to phase transitions. Aaron is correct to state that this can happen for transitions between an Infant School and Junior School – they key thing here, in my view, is that there is a change of school. 

   

  Regardless of any conflicting information, EHCp reviews must comply with with r 20 The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 if the child is in school. 

   

  This states (amongst other things):
  
  “(2) The following persons must be invited to attend the review meeting—

  (a)the child's parent or the young person;

  (b)the provider of the relevant early years education or the head teacher or principal of the school, post-16 or other institution attended by the child or young person;

  (c)an officer of the authority who exercises the local authority's education functions in relation to children and young people with special educational needs;

  (d)a health care professional identified by the responsible commissioning body to provide advice about health care provision in relation to the child or young person;

  (e)an officer of the authority who exercises the local authority's social services functions in relation to children and young people with special educational needs”

  Note that adherence to this regulation when reviewing an EHCp is mandatory. Please familiarise yourself with the necessary process. Any recommended amendments to an EHCP must be clearly evidence-based. If there is a disagreement between you and the Local Authority (LA) about the contents of your sons EHCp, you eventually will have the option to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (FtT).

  Further, you can ask for relevant others to attend the review meeting.

   Note the term “annual review” is often used to describe the review meeting which is incorrect. 

  I recommend reviewing this information and paying attention to Aaron’s comprehensive guidance. You could consider discussing it with the SENCo, copying in the Local Authority (LA) if you perceive any issues with compliance etc. Any mismatch between the statutory framework and what you have been told may not be intentional but rather a simple misunderstanding which can be rectified.

  I hope this is helpful, and I look forward to reading any additional insights others may have on this matter.

  Regards,

  Sean

  

  Sean Kennedy
  Talem Law

3 This is helpful

|

Comment

Post
• 10 Nov 2024

• Other

  Simple

  Can't answer yes or no.:

  Hi there Gordon,

  It's probably best to answer your points one-at-a-time.

  1.    The SENCo seems to believe that the annual review is based on term(academic year) and not calendar(i.e. months). Is there any reference to 'term' in the legislation?
  The SEND Code of Practice from 2014/15 covers the rules on this. The review must be held within 12 months of any previous review (or within 12 months of the date that the EHCP was issued if it’s a new EHCP).
  The Code of Practice is here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7dcb85ed915d2ac884d995/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf . You want rule 9.169.

   

  2. The SENCO seems to be rushing to have the meeting to catch us unprepared. How can we push back on this?
  I’d recommend you ask the SENCo the following question:
  What kind of lead in time is there for the EP to come to visit? It may be that it’ll take a week or two to get your consent and then there won’t be time in the EP diary to get to see your child before January. So if the review is in February – it might just be that the SENCo is trying to ensure that the EP has seen your child before the review in February.

   

  3. The timeline described below seems to muddle several separate processes into one. Shouldn't the EP assessment be done separately ahead of the annual review? We would expect the findings from the EP assessment to be used to update the needs and targets in the EHCP, is this correct?
  See answer to #2. And yes, ideally, the EP assessment would be ready in time to inform the EHCP review.

   

  4. The SENCo's email seems to suggest that the EP is accountable for assessing and setting new targets. Our son has OT, SLT and Physio; does this mean the EP sets targets for all of these?
  It’s unclear. The SENCo may also be asking those for advice (this may be nearer the time). If they are open cases, the SENCo might not need to ask for your consent as this may be part of the general offer from those services (or they may say ‘We’ll attend but not provide a report). Asking an EP for advice doesn’t necessarily exclude others.

   

  5. The SENCo suggests that she will amend the targets and interventions in our son's EHCP and then issue it to the LA to be rubber-stamped. Shouldn't the LA SEND team be part of the annual review and process of updating the EHCP?
  In terms of what often happens: If an EP has given advice, often the LA don’t make changes – how and why would they? Often, LAs are triaging and so don’t attend many annual reviews but issue the updated EHCP based on the papers submitted following the meeting.

   

  6. We have heard from many parents that the SENCo seeks to remove as many interventions (without clear evidence of progress) as possible from children's EHCPs at annual reviews. Is that common and why?
  It’s not especially common for Y2 pupils as SENCos might perceive that opens themselves up to an LA reducing funding (i.e. if they don’t need all these interventions the cost of the child's SEND provision is lower).
   

  7. Should we be arranging for other professional assessments (SLT, OT, Physio etc) to feed into the updated needs and targets?
  You can ask the SLT, OT, physio if they will be providing assessments. Before you do, ask yourself ‘What do I want from these assessments?’ The time may be better spent working with your child or advice / training for staff. Sometimes, they say they'll come to the meeting instead of writing a report. There's no legal rule that says they have to assess for each review.

  Also, you might want to ask the SENCo if they’re already planning on asking those professionals about assessments (so you don’t duplicate work).

   

  Final point: Sometimes EHCP reviews move to a different part of the year in order to satisfy the admission requirements for the next phase of education. This often happens in Y6, but can also apply to Y2 if a child is in an infant school (and so parents need to apply to a junior school for a place in Y3).

  Hope that helps inform your next steps. Happy to hear the views of others.

  

  Aaron King
  9000 Lives SEND Consultancy

5 This is helpful

|

Comment

Post