I received my son's EHCP complete with an EOTAS package yesterday from our borough. They are now working on the DP part of it as we have a personal budget. However (now that I've got this legal document in place) we are moving our son to another borough (we already have a residence here there). Should I tell the issuing borough this already, before they set up all the PB details or inform my new borough straight away?

We were in the middle of an EHCP application when we had to move boroughs for my other child (child A) to attend a SEN school. Rather than stop the process (we were due to go to tribunal but thankfully the LA asked us to reconsider and we were able to work out a great eotas package), we maintained our property in the old borough and essentially split the family so that one parent was with child A in the new borough for his school and one parent was with child B in the old borough whilst we worked on finalising his EHCP.
Yesterday we finally received the completed EHCP with advise that the DP team will be in touch so we can start putting section F into effect.
My question is - Do I tell the issuing borough not to go ahead with setting up the DP as we are moving child B to be with the rest of the family in the new borough?
Or does that look suspicious; should I let them go ahead and set it up and then inform our new borough of the move?
Also, I am aware it will take time to get the DP set up in the new borough and that they might even choose to question the EOTAS package. I would ideally like to start using some of the location non-specific funds e.g. resources and subscriptions asap as opposed to tutors and clubs. I have already spent two years fighting for this and time is of the essence now to get my son the support he needs.
Any advice or input would be much appreciated.
Many thanks for your support.

Timing of annual reviews (s44 CFA2014). Is it correct that an annual review should be 12 months after the date an amended EHCP was issued (following a tribunal appeal)?

s44 CFA2014 requires an EHCp to be reviewed within 12 months of being issued and then within 12 months of the date the EHCp was last reviewed.

The last review of my 9 yo daughters EHCp was/was completed on the 1st July 2022. We appealed to the FTT who ordered amendments to the EHCp, and the amended document was issued on 30th April 2023. The LA now claims that the next s44 review must be completed by 30th April 2024 and not 1st July 2023 as s44 requires.

Can you pass on any advice to parents who are attending Tribunal to make it less stressful and help them be prepared?

Does disability living allowance automatically transfer to PIP benefit?

When children turn 16 there can be changes to their support.

Please explain public task as lawfulness for data processing in context of EHCPs that a ) LAs and b) Schools rely upon? I believe the public task ...

... of the LA is to have processes in place for dealing with EHCPs i.e. NHS commissioning agreements, assessment processes etc. But PUBLIC TASK does not mean that sensitive specific individual data can openly/ without parental or child consent be processed with whom the LA deems appropriate ie. school consultations or third parties.This would need to be agreed. PUBLIC TASK in terms of EHCP/SENDIST means that processes are in place.

LAs quote public task as lawfulness to share and obtain your individual data with third parties without your knowledge in EHCPNA and SENDIST. I don't agree and no one can explain this to me in simple SENDIST/ Education terms. Please can some one explain this as I believe LAs and schools are misquoting to obtain and share data strategically in sendist to blindsight parents

Parents asked recently, should children with ADHD, Autism or other challenges be in mainstream school (rather than special school)?

The cost of an EHCP disagreement. Can you outline the costs for parents of taking the LA to tribunal?

Can the Lgo investigate the time period when a case was at FTT or JR?

**LGO investigations when open to FTT or JR**
There has been caselaw in place previously stating that complaint investigations can’t look at the time when there was an alternative recourse open such as FTT or JR. I remember seeing somewhere that this had now been lifted and both complaints being investigated by the council and by the LGO could be looked at regardless of any other open recourse at the time.
Can anyone point me to the case law or law that states this is now the case?
Thanks in advance.

Is the LGO correct to tell me that it cannot investigate my complaint because I used my right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal?

I made a complaint to the LGO in relation to the LA's refusal to provide recompense for the legal costs I was forced to incur as a direct result of the LA’s substantial and persistent failings.
The LGO has just responded to say that it cannot investigate my complaint because I used my right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and this places the matter outside the LGO’s jurisdiction. The LGO referred to section 26(6)(a) of the Local Government Act 1974 to support this decision.
I understand that the LGO can’t consider a complaint where someone has already appealed to a Tribunal about the same matter but am confused as to how the Council’s refusal to provide recompense falls within the definition of the same matter.
The matter that came before the Tribunal in July 2022 was an appeal against the contents of my daughter’s EHCP – Sections B, F and I. The matter that I brought to the LGO was the LA’s decision not to provide recompense for the legal costs I was forced to incur because of their maladministration and service failure.
I had been advised that the general rule in the SEND Tribunal jurisdiction is that there should be no order for costs. We therefore made no request for costs. Further, the LA’s Assistant Director of SEND had told me in a meeting before the Tribunal that he would consider my request for recompense of legal costs if I put it to him in writing. I did this after the Tribunal. At the same time, I asked for recompense for loss of educational opportunity, loss of income and for emotional costs.
The LA agreed to provide recompense in relation to those costs, but not for the legal costs. It was this decision – made in October 2022 - that I made a complaint about to the LGO.
The LGO replied and told me that I had to go through the LA’s complaints procedure. I did what they asked and spent the next 5 months going through the LA’s lengthy two-stage process. When I eventually got the LA’s ‘final outcome’, I went back to the LGO. This has resulted in the decision that I’ve just received - that the LGO can’t investigate my complaint because it doesn’t have jurisdiction.
Firstly, I am frustrated because if this is the case then surely the LGO must have known this in October 2022? It could have saved me a lot of work, stress and anxiety if it had told me this rather than telling me that I had to go back to the LA and go through their formal complaints’ procedure; and secondly, how does my complaint fall within the same matter?
The LGO’s reasoning is that the legal costs are a consequence of the matter about which I appealed and therefore it cannot consider whether the costs I incurred resulted from fault on the Council’s part. It says that the Courts have held that matters relating to the subject of the appeal are caught by this and therefore there is no role for the Ombudsman here. Is this right or do I have any further rights to appeal this decision? Disappointingly, the LGO decision does not set out the cases where the Courts have held this – as I would be interested in reading them.
I believe that this case highlights a very real issue in relation to SEND law and access to justice.
Many thanks in advance for any answers to my question.

ehcp delays mean that by the time my sons ehcp is completed there will be no special school places available. Is there a way I can prevent this?

Our son will be 5 in October and has complex drug resistant epilepsy with epileptic encepathopathy, GDD and ASD. His nursery has been amazing but has had very little support and guidance, he has 1:1 at nursery and extra funding.

He can have up to 100 seizures a day, these can be extremely violent and throw him forward often causing head and facial injuries, he has very limited communication and cannot communicate his wants or needs, he is still in nappies, he has no awareness of danger, he will put anything and everything in his mouth. mainstream would be unsafe for both him and everyone else.

We are on week 16 of the ehcp and my son has just been allocated an educational psychologist.
The LA has a shortage of EPs and have said his outcomes meeting will be on the week beginning the 29th of may. (although they did say this would be brought forward once ep had done her report)

Our 2 nearest schools between them have about 20 places. I'm worried that the ehcp will be too late and he will not have a place. He's an October baby so I can defer him for a term but only if the nursery has space for him.

Is there any way to speed up the LA or somehow have them hold a school space? They have reports from SALT, OT, neurodiability, PNI teachers, GOSH etc etc seems silly to wait for one report when they already know he will need a place at a special school.
What happens if they don't complete the ehcp within the 20 week timescale?