Education, Health and Care Assessment and Plans (EHC)

Local Authorities must have regard to the following principles when carrying out their duties under the Children’s and Families Act 2014:

• the views, wishes and feelings of the child or young person, and the child’s parents
• the importance of the child or young person, and the child’s parents, participating as fully as possible in decisions, and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions
• the need to support the child or young person, and the child’s parents, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes, preparing them effectively for adulthood

These principles are designed to support:

• the participation of children, their parents and young people in decision making
• the early identification of children and young people’s needs and early intervention to support them
• greater choice and control for young people and parents over support
• collaboration between education, health and social care services to provide support
• high quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people with SEN
• a focus on inclusive practice and removing barriers to learning
• successful preparation for adulthood, including independent living and employment.

If you are interested in becoming involved in discussions and decisions with the Local Authority around support and provision, please email special.needs@sefton.gov.uk 

Link to groups:

Sefton's Online Schools Get Talking Chat, Every Two Weeks on a Tuesday 10 am to 11am | The Sefton Directory

Sefton's Online Young Person's Get Talking Weekly Chat Group, take place on a Tuesday 4:30pm to 5:15pm | The Sefton Directory

Educational settings are required to follow a Graduated Response in relation to students with SEN.  The Graduated Response is what the educational setting should be providing to students including Quality First Teaching. 

The majority of children and young people with special educational needs should have their needs met by mainstream education settings using the resources available to the setting or by accessing additional funding from the Local Authority. 

Myth: School has to have spent the SEN notional budget before applying for a EHC Needs Assessment – this is not true.  Schools are asked what support they have already tried in order to evidence that they have exhausted the Graduated Response.  This is not dependent on how much money is spent. 

Before requesting an EHC Needs Assessment, please contact the child / young person’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or nominated SEN person at the educational setting to ask if the Graduated Response has been followed.  Please include details within the Request for EHC Needs Assessment of which approaches have been used and what the result was.  You can ask the school for a copy of your child’s SEN Support plan.

You can find more information on the Graduated Response and Quality First here:

• The Graduated Response in Sefton guide (Guidance for Parents/Carers)
• The Graduated Response in Sefton guide (Guidance for Teaching Professionals)

• Quality First in Primary Schools [Sefton quality first teaching offer reflecting inclusive practice]
• Quality First in Secondary Schools [Sefton quality first offer to secondary pupils]

Please read ‘what to check before requesting an EHC Needs Assessment’ section to ensure the Graduated Response has been followed.

Parents / carers, Young People (over the age of 16), educational settings and Professionals can request a EHC Needs Assessment.  The request must be made in writing or through completion of the Request for Assessment Form. Please see the link at the end of this section.   

When requesting an EHC Needs Assessment, please give as much detailed information as you can to support your request.  It is unlikely that a Request for and EHC Needs Assessment will be accepted if there is no evidence that the Graduated Response hasn’t been followed first. 

Ideally, any professional reports should be dated within the last 12 months, however reports can be older than this providing the professionals supporting the child / young person and parent / carer agree that the content of the report remains relevant to the child / young person’s current needs. 

It's helpful to understand the child / young person needs if you can include information in the request on how they present on a day to day basis within the educational setting.  The EHC Needs Assessment is about the child / young person’s educational needs not health or social care although these needs will be considered if an EHCP is agreed. 

What happens next? 

Once you have sent your Request for EHC Needs Assessment, you should receive an acknowledgement that the Local Authority has received it.  A letter to confirm receipt will be sent by email if you have given your email address. 

From the date the Local Authority received the request for EHC Needs Assessment, they have 6 weeks in order to decide if the assessment will go ahead or not.  The Request for EHC Needs Assessment is considered by a panel comprising of representatives from education, health and social care.  This panel meet every 2 weeks to consider the Request for EHC Needs Assessments and decisions are communicated to families as soon as possible afterwards. 

If the Request for EHC Needs Assessment is not agreed, you will be notified of this by letter, emailed to you, detailing the reasons why the assessment has not been agreed.  You can appeal this decision and details of how to do this will be in the letter sent to you by the Local Authority. 

If the Request for EHC Needs Assessment is agreed, you will receive a letter to confirm this and the allocated SEN Casework Officer should be in touch with you to introduce themselves and to explain the assessment process

A request for an EHC needs assessment should be made in writing to:

SEN Casework Team

Sefton Council

4^th Floor

Magdalen House

Trinity Road

Bootle

L20 3NJ

Or you can email them at: special.needs@sefton.gov.uk

This should include (click to download):

• An EHC Needs application or a parental / young person request form (Word Document) parental / young person request form (PDF Version)

• EHC Needs Application-  Settings (Word Document) Settings (PDF Version)

• Capturing your views - forms to be attached to your EHC request

  Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Young People views) (Word Document)

  Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Young People views) (PDF Version)

  Personal profile Year 9 and above (Young People views) (Word Document)

  Personal profile Year 9 and above (Young People views) (PDF Version)

  Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Parents/Carers views) (Word Document)

  Personal profile  Reception to Year 8 (Parents/Carers views) (PDF Version)

  Personal profile Year 9 and above (Parents/Carers Views) (Word Document)

  Personal profile Year 9 and above (Parents/Carers Views) (PDF Version)

When the Request for EHC Needs Assessment has been considered by the Local Authority, they will write to you to give their decision.  This letter is normally sent via email if you have provided your email address.

If they have decided not to proceed to assessment, the reasons why will be included in the letter which they send you together with details of how you can appeal this decision. 

Please contact the SEN team if you need the reasons further explaining, the details of who to contact will be in the letter. 

You can appeal this decision through either medication or tribunal processes.  Please see ‘what to do if you disagree with a decision’ section.

When the Request for Assessment has been agreed, you will be notified by letter, this will be sent via email if you have provided your email address.  Following this, the allocated Casework Officer will contact you to introduce themselves and pass on their contact details. 

You will also be contacted by a Social Worker; we understand that this may cause some anxiety to families but it is a standard part of the process.  They will ask you some questions around your individual circumstances to determine whether or not they will be able to offer any other services to help your family.

To help you prepare for this, below is an overview of Social Care's role as part of the EHCP Needs Assessment process.

Social Care role as part of the EHCP Needs Assessment process.

If you or your child’s educational setting has requested an EHCP Needs Assessment to be carried out, you will receive a phone call from a Social Worker as part of this process.  This is a part of the EHC Needs Assessment process and without this information, the EHC Assessment may be delayed. 

We understand that this can cause anxiety to families, so have collated the following information to help you prepare.

The Social Worker will contact you usually via a phone call.  They will ask you some questions to establish if there are any services which Social Care can offer to support your family.  The type of questions which you will be asked will be based around:

Gaining a general understanding of your child and family

For example – who does the child / young person live with, who holds parental responsibility for them, who are the main care givers, wider support networks i.e. friends and wider family members etc.

Gaining an understanding of your child and family within the local community

For example – does your child / young person attend any groups, clubs or activities outside of school, what are their hobbies and interests, do they face barriers accessing these activities

Gaining an understanding of your child’s and family’s needs

For example – What is going well for your child / young person and family at the moment, what does your child / young person and family find difficult or challenging, what is not going well

Gaining an understanding of wider circumstances

For example – housing, employment, income, isolation, anti-social behaviour, which professionals / organisations are currently providing support

This will help to paint a picture for the Social Worker to understand your child’s and family’s needs better to establish if there are any additional support or signposting to other services which may be beneficial to your child or family.    

From this point, you may not hear anything for a number of weeks (Refer to 20 week journey flowchart, whilst the reports / advice from professionals is being gathered but you can always contact your casework officer for an update if you wish to. 

Once the EHC Needs Assessment has been completed, the Casework Officer will let you know if the Child / Young Person meets the criteria for an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).  Whilst the majority of children and young people with SEN will have their special educational needs met by mainstream education providers using the resources available to them within their settings, or by accessing additional funding from the Local Authority, some children or young people with complex educational needs may require SEN provision that cannot reasonably be provided within the resources normally available to mainstream educational settings.  In these cases an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) will be drafted. 

A meeting will be offered with parents/carers to co-produce the draft plan.  This meeting can last approximately an hour to an hour and a half and gives parents/carers the opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns which you may have.  Parents/carers may choose not to have a meeting if they feel they have been involved with the assessment and agree with the draft plan.

The co-production meeting (sometimes called a joint outcomes meeting) provides an opportunity for the family to comment on, influence and discuss possible amendments to the draft EHC Plan. If there are no major changes, the SEN Caseworker will issue the draft Plan for a formal 15 calendar day consultation period. 

Parental Preference of educational setting

Deciding on your parental preference request of setting can be a daunting decision to make. There is a link to the school’s page below to help you see which settings are in your local area. 

What to think about when considering difference settings:

Parents/carers choose schools from recommendations, from previous experiences and if siblings attend the school or have previously attended the School

Reputation of the school both good and bad.

If a child likes drama, sport, science etc they will choose the school that specialise in that area. 

Many children/young people remain in their local mainstream education setting.

Your SEN Casework Officer will ask you for your parental preference of school – you can give this at any point within the assessment process.  Parents / carers or the young person has the right to request a particular school, college or other type of setting to be named in the EHC plan.  These type of settings are:

• maintained nursery school
• maintained school and any form of academy or free school (mainstream or special)
• non-maintained special school
• further education or sixth form college
• independent school or independent specialist colleges (where they have been approved for this purpose by the Secretary of State and published in a list available to all parents and young people – this is known as the Section 41 list)

The  Local Authority (LA) is under an obligation to consult for a place with your parental preference of school and they must name this unless it:

• it would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or SEN of the child or young person, or
• the attendance of the child or young person there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, or the efficient use of resources

Efficient education means providing for each child or young person a suitable, appropriate education in terms of their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. Where a local authority is considering the appropriateness of an individual institution, ‘others’ is intended to mean the children and young people with whom the child or young person with an EHC plan will directly come into contact on a regular day-to-day basis.

As well as your parental preference choice of setting, the LA will also consult with settings which they believe may be able to meet your child’s needs. 

Transport

Your child may be eligible for travel support which could be a train or bus pass, specialist transport or personal travel mileage. 

Please click on the links below for more information:

Home to School Transport

What if the setting says they are not able to meet my child’s / young person’s needs?

The educational settings have a 15 day consultation period to respond to the local authority regarding whether or not they are able to meet your child’s / young person’s needs. 

If the setting does not believe that they are able to meet the child’s / young person’s needs, the LA will discuss with them to see if any reasonable adjustments can be made.

Link to Schools information

Sefton Schools finder

Education Schools and Learning page

Finalising the EHC Plan

The last stage of the process is when the EHC plan is finalised with naming the setting or type of setting in Section I.  If you disagree with the setting named, please see the section – What to do if you disagree with a decision.

Once the EHC Plan is agreed and issued, all those who are responsible for delivering the EHC Plan work together to achieve the agreed outcomes.  Please speak to the setting’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for details about how they are putting the provision into place. 

EHC Plans are reviewed every 12 months – Please see the section EHCP Annual Reviews.

Summative Assessment

If the Local Authority feels that your child or young person does not meet the criteria for an EHC Plan to be issued, they will complete a Summative Assessment document.  This is just a document which brings together the needs which have been identified as part of the assessment process and the suggested provision to meet those needs.  You will receive a copy of this together with the reports used to come to this decision.  The Summative Assessment is also shared with the child’s / young person’s educational setting.

Often, but not in all cases, this may be because the provision suggested by professionals to meet your child’s needs, can be provided by resources already available to schools via the Graduated Response or Quality First teaching practices. 

Please see the section above – What to check before requesting an EHCP for more information regarding the Graduated Response and Quality First teaching

Before the annual review meeting:

The EHC Plan will be reviewed annually, within 12 months of when the Final plan was issued or 12 months from when the previous review process was complete.  Please note that the Annual Review is a process – the Annual Review meeting is one part of this process. 

The SENCO will agree a date with you and send out the Annual Review paperwork 2 weeks before the meeting so you have time to read through the information and formulate any questions that you may wish to ask. 

Annual Reviews can be held earlier than 12 months if there is a need to do this.  The school SENCO should discuss the reasons with the SEN Casework Officer who will decide if the review needs to be brought forward. 

The educational setting normally arranges and chairs the Annual Review meeting on behalf of the local authority. 

Reviewing an EHC Plan Flowchart

What to expect at the annual review meeting:

A meeting will be held to discuss your child’s progress in relation to the outcomes (Section E) and the progress towards them.  

A SEN Casework Officer from the local authority may be present at the annual review for the following year groups: nursery, year 2, year 6, year 9, year 11, year 13 within mainstream settings and year 14 in special school settings.  Within Further Education, they will attend in the final year of the young person’s course.

SEN Casework Officer will not generally attend reviews outside of the above year groups unless specifically requested to do so by Schools.  If parents / carers feel that LA presence is needed, please speak to the school SENCO in the first instance or the SEN Casework Officer.  If you are not sure who the SEN Casework Officer is, please email special.needs@sefton.gov.uk with your child’s name, Date of Birth and current educational setting.

What to expect after the Annual Review meeting:

There are 3 outcomes which follow an Annual Review meeting:

- LA decides to maintain the EHCP in it’s current format

- LA decides to amend the plan

- LA decides to cease the plan

The LA could also decide to complete a reassessment, however there would need to be a significant change of the child’s / young person’s needs for this happen.

Parents / carers will be notified of the outcome from the Annual Review meeting within 4 weeks of the Review meeting.  Where the local authority decides to amend the EHCP, a Proposed Amended EHCP will be shared by the SEN Casework Officer and you will be given a 15 day consultation period. 

The Annual Review process is completed when the LA issues either the decision letter to say no amendments are needed, ceasing the plan or the Amended Final Plan is completed.  The next annual review will be due before the date which is on the decision letter or Amended Final Plan, it does not go 12 months from the review meeting date.

Education Health and Care Plan Review Video/Preparing for Adulthood Guide

Your Education Health and Care Plan review video

Close

Preparing for Adulthood Guide

Capturing Your Views - forms

Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Young People views) (Word Document)

Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Young People views) (PDF)

Personal profile Reception to Year 9 and above (Young People views) (Word Document)

Personal profile Reception to Year 9 and above (Young People views) (PDF)

Personal profile Reception to Year 8 (Parents/Carers views) (Word Document)

Personal profile  Reception to Year 8 (Parents/Carers views) (PDF)

Personal profile Reception to Year 9 and above (Parents/Carers Views) (Word Document)

Personal profile Reception to Year 9 and above (Parents/Carers Views) (PDF)

Council for Disabled Children EHC plan Annual Review Video

It is an allocation of funding which allows for support to meet all or some of the outcomes identified in the EHC Plan.  The scope of the Personal Budget will vary depending on the needs of the individual. 

Families can request a Personal Budget only as part of the Assessment process or through the Annual Review to meet the child / young person’s educational needs.  It can only be used to fund provision as stated within the EHC Plan.  

The local authority must seek the agreement of the nursery, school or post 16 institution where the draft EHCP plan sets out any provision to be delivered on their premises which are secured through a personal budget.

Local authorities and where appropriate, health services must consider each request for a Personal Budget on its own individual merits. If they are unable to identify a sum of money, they should inform the child's parent or young person of the reasons. For example, the local authority  may be unable to dis-aggregate funding that is currently supporting provision of services to a number of children and young people.  In these circumstances, the local authority may refuse to prepare a Personal Budget on the basis that doing so would have an adverse impact on the services which it provides or arranges for children and young people with an EHC Plan or would not be an efficient use of its resources.

Personal Budgets

Parents and young people (aged 16-24) have the right of appeal if they are unable to reach agreement with the local authority.  You can appeal against a refusal decision to complete an EHC Needs Assessment, the contents of the EHC Plan or the setting named within the EHC Plan. 

You can appeal decision NOT to issue an EHC Plan following assessment or re-assessment

There are 2 options available; Mediation or Tribunal. 

Mediation

Mediation is a less formal way of trying to settle a dispute.  An independent mediator will arrange a meeting between yourself and the local authority which they will chair and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to put their views forward.  The meeting should take place within 30 days of the request being received. 

Mediation is not compulsory and by going through the mediation process, it does not stop you from proceeding to Tribunal if the dispute remains unsolved or you are unhappy with the result.  However for most Tribunal appeals you will need a mediation certificate. To get a mediation certificate, you will need to contact the mediation company within 2 months of the LA’s decision letter. 

There is no charge to use the mediation service and you are able to ask for a friend, family member or educational setting to attend with you for support.   

Tribunal

Before you can register an appeal with the Tribunal, you must contact a mediation adviser within two months of the date on the letter which the LA sent to inform you of their decision.   

The SEND Tribunal is an independent national tribunal which hears parents’ and young people’s appeals against LA decisions about the special educational needs of children and young people. 

The SEND Tribunal has the power to order LAs to carry out EHC needs assessments, issue EHC plans, and amend existing EHC plans. LAs must comply with orders made by the SEND Tribunal.

The SEND Tribunal must have regard to the SEN and Disability Code of Practice which advises schools and LAs on identifying and making provision for children with SEN.

The SEND Tribunal looks at the evidence put before it and decides whether the LA decision followed the law and the SEN Code of Practice. It will make a decision based on what is right for the child or young person at the date of the hearing. 

If you are concerned about the progress your child / young person is making or have any questions regarding their education, please contact the settings SENCO in the first instance to discuss your concerns. 

If you continue to have concerns following discussion with the setting, you can contact Sefton SENDIASS, Sefton Parent / Carer forum or the SEN Casework Officer.  To find out who the SEN Casework Officer is, please email special.needs@sefton.gov.uk who will be able to let you know.

If your child / young person has an Education, Health and Care Plan, you can ask the school to hold an early EHCP Annual Review.  EHCP Reviews are held annually but can be held sooner if needed, the settings SENCO will be able to arrange this for you.

Sefton has a range of specialist provision for those with the most complex needs. Sefton has some enhanced provision in mainstream school schools; often called resourced provision or units. There are also six special schools. You can view/download the range of provision below:

Resourced Nurseries Leaflet for Parents and Carers

Sefton SEN Units and Resource Provision

Special Schools

Specialist education for complex needs

These settings are supported by the Complex Needs Team at Sefton's SEN and Inclusion Service, to find out more about this service please click: Sefton SEN and Inclusion Service

Sefton SEN and Inclusion Team

4^th Floor, Magdalen House, Trinity Road, Bootle, L20 3NJ

Main number for all teams: 0151 934 2347

SEN Team:

Email: special.needs@sefton.gov.uk

The SEN Team is responsible for the co-ordination of EHC Needs Assessments and the Annual Review process for children and young people who have an EHC Plan. 

Sefton Parent Carer Forum

Cambridge Family and Well-being Centre, Cambridge Road, Bootle, L20 9LQ, Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s – Term time. There are also drop-ins in the north of the borough.

Email: info@seftonPCF.org

Facebook: Sefton Parent Carer forum:

Private group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/478500752250361/

Public Sefton Parent Carers Information Sharing Network Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/926804665374819/?mibextid=6NoCDW

The parent carer forum is a group of parents and carers of disabled children and young people who work with the local authority, education, health and other providers to make sure that the services they offer meet the needs of disabled children and families.  Parents or carers of a child with any type of additional need or disability are welcome to join. 

The forum represents the views of parents in the local area but does not advocate for individual families.

They run workshops, information days and one day special events on a regular basis throughout the year and provide regular information to help increase parental knowledge via social media.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS) Barnardo's

Email:seftonsendiass@barnardos.org.uk

Sefton Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service or SENDIASS is a free, confidential and impartial service for parents and carers, children and young people (up to 25 years). This service can help parents and carers make informed decisions about their children’s special educational needs and support children and young people to have their voices heard and discuss options for next steps and future transitions.  Advice and support can be provided to parents and young people up to and including mediation and tribunal.                                                              

More information from a range of different services

How to apply for an Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan in Assessment Sefton (Website accessible document)

How to apply for an Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plan Assessment in Sefton (Printable Version)

Requesting an Education, Health & Care [EHC] Needs assessment by a young person, parent, person in charge of a custodial establishment or YOS Case Manager while CYP are detained in custody

CYP with EHC Plan - Entering and being released from custody

You Said - You wanted the quality of the Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC) to improve. 

We Did - We have delivered outcomes training to front line staff who complete EHC plans etc and introduced a monthly Quality Assurance process.

You Said - You wanted to be more involved in contributing to the outcomes within the 

EHC Plan. 

We Did - We now invite parents/carers to be involved in joint outcomes meetings.

You Said - You wanted to be able to contact your Case Work Officer directly.

We Did - Case Work Officers now share mobile phone numbers when they first contact you.