Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

What is an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?

An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) describes your child's special educational needs and disability (SEND) and the help they will get to meet those needs. An EHCP also includes any health and social care provision that is needed. It is a legal document written by the Local Authority (LA) and is intended to ensure that children and young people with an EHCP receive the support and provision they need.

EHCPs are for children and young people aged 0 to 25 years, who need more support than their school or other setting can provide, so start from a child's birth and continue into further education and training.

If you are looking to appeal a decision the LA has made with your EHCP, then please go to Appeals and Mediation.

To start the process of getting an EHCP you (or the School) will need to request an EHC needs assessment (EHCNA):

Request an EHC needs assessment

You can also download the 20 week planner which will help explain what happens at each stage of the EHCP process.

The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care and, as they get older, prepare them for adulthood.

The SEND Code of Practice (9.2)

Who needs an EHCP?

EHCPs are for children and young people who have a SEND that cannot be met by the support that is available at their school, college or Early Years setting. Most children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) will have help given to them without the need for an EHCP. This is called SEN Support (see our Schools section for more information).

The purpose of SEN Support is to help children achieve the outcomes or learning objectives that have been set for them. Some children and young people may not make the progress expected of them even with this help. When this happens Surrey LA carries out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA).

You or your child's school can ask Surrey to make an EHC needs assessment. When this assessment is finished Surrey must decide whether to issue an EHCP or not.

In considering whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary, the local authority should consider whether there is evidence that despite the early years provider, school or post-16 institution having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress.

The Law states that if your child has or may have special needs and may need provision to be made via an EHC plan, then the LA must conduct an EHC needs assessment. You do not have to prove that an EHC plan is definitely necessary to obtain an assessment, you just have to show it may be necessary. If you think your child needs more help than the school can provide, you can ask for an assessment.

The SEND Code of Practice (9.14)

What does an EHCP include?

The SEND Code of Practice says that EHCP should:

• be based on decisions made openly, and with parents, children and young people
• describe what the child or young person can do
• be clear, concise, understandable and accessible
• consider how best to achieve the outcomes for the child or young person. They must take into account the evidence from the EHC needs assessment
• specify clear outcomes
• consider alternative ways of providing support if a parent or young person wishes it. This could include having a Personal Budget
• show how education, health and care provision will be co-ordinated
• be forward looking, for example, anticipating, planning and commissioning for important transition points in a child or young person's life
• describe how informal support as well as formal support from statutory agencies can help in achieving agreed outcomes
• have a review date.

There is a full list of principles and requirements in the SEND Code of Practice section 9.61.

Every EHCP must include at least 12 sections, but each LA can decide how to set these out.

The sections are:

A: The views, interests and aspirations of you and your child or the young person.

B: Your child's or young person's special educational needs.

C: Health needs related to their SEN or to a disability.

D: Social care needs related to their SEN or to a disability.

E: Planned outcomes for your child or the young person.

F: Special educational provision. Provision must be specified for each and every need shown in section B.

G: Any health provision required that is related to their SEN or to a disability.

H1: Any social care provision that must be made for your child or young person under 18.

H2: Any other social care provision required that is related to their SEN or to a disability.

I: The name and type of the school, maintained nursery school, post-16 institution or other institution to be attended.

J: Details of how any personal budget will support particular outcomes and the provision it will be used for.

K: The advice and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment

Sections B and F are side by side on Surrey's EHCP. All professional reports will list need and provision under the Four Broad Areas of SEND. There are:

• Communication and interaction.
• Cognition and learning.
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
• Sensory and/or physical needs.

Where the child or young person is in or beyond year 9, the EHCP must also include the provision required by your child or young person to help prepare for adulthood and independent living.

You can read the full list of what must be included in each section in the SEND Code of Practice sections 9.62 and 9.63.

You can find a detailed EHCP checklist covering each of these sections on our website.

The 6 weeks for the completion of professional assessments

This section is based on the six weeks that professionals have to carry out the statutory assessments. This means that the Local Authority (LA) (Learners' Single Point of Access - L-SPA) have agreed to assess and the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) paperwork has been passed to the SEN Teams to start the assessment process.

Day 1 is the date your EHCNA request was received by Surrey LA and the LA agree to assess (within 6 weeks after day 1) and have written to you to state that they are assessing. Statutory assessments should be carried out within 6 weeks from being requested by Surrey.

If the LA agree to issue an EHCP after the assessments, they will write to you to state this. You will then be issued a draft EHCP (the latest should be by week 16). You then have 15 days to comment on the draft (make representations) and to state a school you would like named. Surrey then have an additional 15 days to consult with your preferred school(s) and the nearest suitable school that they feel can meet needs if different to your preference.

What is the piece of Law that covers this assessment period?

The SEND Regulations states:

Duty to co-operate in EHC needs assessments

8. (1) Where a local authority requests the co-operation of a body in securing an EHC needs assessment in accordance with section 31 of the Act, that body must comply with such a request within 6 weeks of the date on which they receive it.

(2) A body need not comply with the time limit referred to in paragraph (1) if it is impractical to do so because—

(a) exceptional circumstances affect the child, the child's parent or the young person during that 6 week period;

(b) the child, the child's parent or the young person are absent from the area of the authority for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks during that 6 week period; or

(c) the child or young person fails to keep an appointment for an examination or a test made by the body during that 6 week period.

How long will this take?

As mentioned above, anyone who is asked for information and advice must respond within 6 weeks (SEN Regulations, 8(1)). The only exceptions to this are if exceptional circumstances affect the child as outlined above.

This is a legal duty which must be complied with, it cannot be avoided because there is a long waiting list or because there are staffing shortages. If Surrey are genuinely unable to obtain one of the necessary pieces of advice during the time frame, they would be expected to obtain an independent report in its place (see case law below).

Surrey must notify the parent or young person of their decision whether or not they will issue a plan within a maximum of 16 weeks from the request for assessment.

Can parents or young people ask for advice from a particular person?

In the SEN Regulations, under 6(1)(h), a parent or young person can ask Surrey to seek advice from anyone within education, health or social care, as long as it is a reasonable request. This can include a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist (OT), physiotherapist or someone from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

A request would be considered reasonable where, for example, a child or young person has been identified as needing an assessment already and they are on a waiting list, or where the school, college or other professionals have said this advice may be needed.

It is best to put this request in writing, so that you have a record of your request.

'Seek advice' may not be the same as a full assessment.

What if there are existing reports or advice about the child or young person?

Surrey does not have to seek new advice where that type of advice has previously been provided for any purpose, for example, if there already was a recent Educational Psychologist's (EP) report. This exception will only apply if the person providing that advice, the LA and the child's parent or the young person are all satisfied that the existing advice is sufficient.

Previous advice can only be sufficient for an EHCNA if it is relatively up to date and accurately reflects the child or young person's current needs. As a rough guide, an EP's report which is over two years old will not usually be recent enough to be useful.

If a parent or young person already has their own advice and reports, these can be submitted as part of their own advice (which Surrey must ask for under SEN Regulations, 6(1)(a)) to ensure that they form part of the assessment process.

This evidence must then be considered when the LA makes its decision:

Information and advice to be obtained of EHC Needs Assessments:

6.(1) Where the local authority secures an EHC needs assessment for a child or young person, it must seek the following advice and information, on the needs of the child or young person, and what provision may be required to meet such needs and the outcomes that are intended to be achieved by the child or young person receiving that provision:

(a) advice and information from the child's parent or the young person;

Copies of evidence submitted by the parent or the young person must be supplied to the other people from whom information is being sought (SEN Regulations, 6(3)).

What should the advice contain?

Their advice must be clear, accessible and specific (9.51 of the SEND Code of Practice). In particular, it should address your child or young person's needs, the special educational provision (SEP) required to meet those needs, and the outcomes which this provision will aim to achieve. Surrey is not permitted to have policies preventing professionals from giving evidence on the provision required.

In relation to point (e) (advice and information in relation to social care), it is not uncommon for LAs to receive a response from social care stating "not known to this service". The advice sought from the list of professionals contained in SEN Regulations, 6(1) must be in relation to the child's needs, provision and outcomes. A response stating "not known to this service" is not going to fulfil Surrey's duty to obtain the advice necessary for a full and accurate EHCNA.

If any of the advice you receive does not address needs, provision and outcomes, you can use IPSEA's model letter to complain. Surrey should go back to the professional concerned and ask them for advice which complies with SEN Regulations, 6(1). Therefore contact your Case Officer to carry this out.

Taken from a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman decision:

Hampshire County Council (15 011 838)

'While acknowledging that health has a statutory duty to respond to an EHC needs assessment request within 6 weeks of the request being made, the Regulations and Code point to the SEN department's responsibility to ensure that the overall process of EHC assessment and plan development is timely and that when assessment evidences the need for an EHC Plan this is achieved within 20 weeks of the parent requesting EHC assessment.

In my view this overarching responsibility means that when a body from whom the SEN department requests information for an EHC needs assessment exceeds the six-week time frame, and there is doubt that the body will send the information in the near future, the SEN department should commission its own assessment from a private provider and seek to recoup the cost from the CCG'.

EHCP and the section contents (including good and poor examples)

To follow is an outline of the information to include in each section of an EHCP and how each section links with another. Taken from IPSEA with added notes: EHCP and the section contents (PDF).

Examples of a good EHCP

You can find examples of good practice of EHCPs on the Council of Disabled Children website.

Examples of a poor EHCP

All EHCPs should be specified and quantified. If they are not then you can challenge this. An example of a "woolly" EHCP (so one that is not specified and quantified) would have words that are not clear. If your work contract was written like a poor EHCP this is what it would look like (Claire being an example person):

• Claire will have access to a salary - No amount of money or frequency of payment is specified and you are not guaranteed to get it.
• Claire would benefit from a pension scheme - No amount of money is specified and you don't know if or when you are going to get it.
• Claire needs support from skilled staff - You need support but this doesn't say you will get it. No mention of the type of support. Will they do your admin, make your lunch for example? 1:1 support or shared with 50 other people?No mention of the skills, experience or training of the staff. They could be skilled in elephant training based on this description!
• Claire needs opportunities for holidays - No frequency or duration is specified and no one is going to give you the opportunities unless you fight for them. You need holidays but this doesn't say you are going to get any.
• Claire will have a keyboard and other stuff - What does 'other stuff' mean? Will there be a laptop or any software to go with that?
• Claire will have equipment, for example a pen - Define 'equipment'. There's no guarantee you will even get the pen!

Getting children/young people views for Section A

The information you need to capture is that which is known to you as the family, information that others wouldn't necessarily know. Historic information should be kept brief. It's not about a diagnosis or generic information but about the impact it is having on your child or young person's life and that of your family.

Remember this is about sharing information that will improve the life and outcomes for your child. It's not about trying to 'fix' or change your child.

Try not to include second-hand information, for example, you cannot give you a reliable and accurate picture of what happens at school as that would be sought from a direct source, for example a class teacher.

Section A of an EHCP is to gain the views, interests and aspirations of the child or young person and their parents. This is to be completed by yourselves as the parent along with your child or young person. Section A of an EHCP gives the child's story.

This information can also be used to get your child's views for an appeal for example.

(Please note that these answers are just examples, there is no right or wrong answer).

When completing this section think about:

• what is important to your child (or the family if relevant) - these are the things that make your life worth living, that make you want to get out of bed in the morning and what leaves you feeling happy and fulfilled and able to be part of your community
• what is important for your child (or the family if relevant) this is what good support looks like that enables the things that are "important to" to happen.
• what's working - think about how this can be continued what's not working - if/how this can be rectified or reconsidered, for example is it even necessary.

One page profile

What people like about me and what I like about myself:

• What do friends and family say about you?
• What do you like about yourself?
• Try to use positive comments.

You could try asking friends and family what they think. You could even sent a text message and ask them to reply.

What is important to me:

• Who is important to me (family, friends, pets for example) you can also explain why they are important.
• Things that working well at home and school.
• Thing that I enjoy doing.
• Is there a particular toy/comforter that you cannot be without.
• How do people support me.
• What are my communication needs.
• Medication.

How best to support me:

• Give me lots of praise and encouragement.
• If I get upset I need quiet time to calm down.
  How to communicate with me.

Some useful prompts, only if relevant:

• Family Relationships: think about the family support you have (or don't have) and the interactions as a family.
• Behaviour: are there any obsessions, triggers? Give a description of what behaviour might look like.
• Emotions: what is frightening, what causes upset, what are the dislikes, when is there anger? What are the strategies for effective calming or pacifying techniques? What are the things that make your child happy
• Communication: Are there any communication support systems? How well does your child understand? Are there certain expressions?
• Independence: Don't forget preparation for adulthood begins in early years, so developing independence across all areas should be considered. Include things like eating, dressing, toileting and washing.
• Physical Needs: include things like mobility, gross and fine motor skills.
• Sensory Needs: include any sensitivity issues, how your child becomes overloaded or overwhelmed and any auxiliary aids.
• Diagnosis and Medical Conditions: keep this bit brief, a bit of an overview. Include management of medical conditions, who else is involved?, any therapies, medication, general health concerns and any allergies.

Aspirations

An aspiration is a hope or ambition of achieving something

• Child/young person's aspirations: Give details on what the child's aspirations are for the future, what would they like to be when they grow up, do they have a career in mind.
• Families aspirations for child/young person: What are your aspirations for your child? Is there something particular you would like to see them doing or achieve?

During an Appeal, getting children's views:

During an appeal it may be necessary to share your child's views. This maybe on which School they would like to attend or where they would like to go to School.

You could ask them to draw a picture or you could have a list of questions to ask them and record it - then write up their answers later. You could even video or record them talking.

Questions may include:

• How do you feel about your School at the moment? / How do you feel about your School?
• Where would you like to attend in the future?
• Do you have any thoughts about where you would like to attend?
• What would make you happy at School?
• What do you like about School / What do you dislike about School?
• Do you have friends at School?
• How would you feel about getting into a taxi to get to School?
• I take you to School at the moment, how would you feel about getting a bus or taxi to School?
• What would you like to me when you are older?

Top tips for developing child-centred EHCPs

The Council of Disabled Children have produced a top tips guide for all professionals who are involved in supporting disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs, to fully participate in their Education, Health and Care Plan. As parents you may also find this useful.

What should the LA do

Along with the draft EHCP, Surrey must give notice to the parent or young person that they have 15 days in which to:

Make comments about the draft EHCP (can be called representations)

You can do this by simply writing a list of all the things you feel are missing or need adding or are wrong. This maybe missing information on needs and/or provision from a report listed in section K, a whole report that is missing, changes to information that is wrong.

Request a meeting with Surrey to discuss the draft

If you want a meeting, Surrey are legally required to agree to meet you. You should consider taking someone along with you for support. You should also consider writing down the exact points you want to make and the questions you want to ask, so that you can be sure that you don't miss out anything you want to say at the meeting. You can leave a copy of your points with the Case Officer as a reminder to them.

Request that a particular school or other institution is named in the final EHCP

You should get a sheet from Surrey that asks which school you would like your child to attend. You are able to state more than one School if you wish. When you make a request for a particular school, college or other institution, the LA must consult with that institution (school, college or other educational institution) about whether it should be named in the final EHCP (unless your request is for a wholly independent school).

Surrey are legally required to do this (under section 38 of the Children and Families Act).

Checking a draft EHCP

This guidance is for whenever the EHCP is in draft form. It is called a 'Draft' when the Plan has never been finalised then it's called 'Draft Amended' whenever it is in draft form after it is first finalised.

Once you get the Draft Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) you have 15 days to get back to the LA, though if circumstances make that difficult, you can apply for an extension by emailing your SEN Case Officer. This should be done in writing (an email) stating why you require the extension.

Please note: The 15 days is from the date on the letter that was received with the draft Plan and not when it was received in the post.

The Plan will include information on your child or young person's special educational needs (SEN), health and care needs, the provision required to meet each of those needs, and the outcomes that should be achieved. It will also record you child or young person's aspirations, views and feelings. These all come under Sections B, F and so on.

When the EHCP is in draft / draft amended, it is an opportunity for you to check whether the EHCP contains everything it should.

What should the LA do

Along with the draft EHCP, Surrey County Council (SCC) must give notice to the parent or young person that they have 15 days in which to:

• Make comments about the draft EHCP (can be called representations). You can do this by simply writing a list of all the things you feel are missing or need adding or are wrong. This maybe missing information on needs and/or provision from a report listed in section K, a whole report that is missing, changes to information that is wrong.
• Request a meeting with Surrey to discuss the draft. If you want a meeting, Surrey are legally required to agree to meet you. You should consider taking someone along with you for support. You should also consider writing down the exact points you want to make and the questions you want to ask, so that you can be sure that you don't miss out anything you want to say at the meeting. You can leave a copy of your points with the Case Officer as a reminder to them. The LA call this a Co-Production Meeting.
• Request that a particular school or other institution is named in the final EHCP. You should get a sheet from Surrey that asks which school you would like your child to attend. You are able to state more than one School if you wish. When you make a request for a particular school, college or other institution, the LA must consult with that institution (school, college or other educational institution) about whether it should be named in the final EHCP (unless your request is for a wholly independent school).

Surrey are legally required to do this (under section 38 of the Children and Families Act 2014).

How do I check the draft plan?

Make a cup of tea or coffee and get comfortable, this is going to take some time so this first point is important:

• Check section K: is every report you have/know about listed and do you have a copy? Please note: If there are reports missing you need to notify your Case Officer and request a copy of these as soon as possible.
• Get two different coloured highlighters, you need one to highlight 'needs' and the other for the 'provision'.

Need - a need is anything that becomes a barrier to the child's ability to learn, for example, a child with mental health issues (for example, anxiety) which is preventing them from accessing the curriculum, would be classed as having a SEN.

Provision - the recommendations made by professionals as to what support your child requires to make progress and to access the curriculum. So anything educational that is over and above that of what the child's peers would get.

The SEN Code of Practice is very clear that provision should usually be specified and quantified:

Provision must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, for example, in terms of the type, hours and frequency of support and level of expertise, for example, 3.5 hours a week of speech and language therapy.

Read through each report. As you read you need to highlight the needs and provision. We read the EP report last as this is normally the longest and most of it will be in sections B and F.

You need to ensure that each point (each need (in B) and each provision (in F)) is written within the draft Plan.

When Surrey writes an EHCP, they must by Law 'specify' the help your child must receive. This means describing it in enough detail so that you and your child, among others, can clearly tell what must be delivered, how often, how long for and who by. The duty on Surrey to specify is 'statutory' as it is required by section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

There could be specific recommendations about the type and frequency of special educational provision (SEP) your child requires which must be specified in Section B and F.

• Make a note of anything that is not included OR any wording that may have been changed. For example, reports state the word Must and the draft now states should. Make a list of things you want changed in the draft Plan. It should include which report it is in and where it is written. You can bullet point these or make a clear list, whatever you find easier.
• Ensure you read the whole Plan from the beginning to the end and ensure you are happy with it and it is correct.
• If you need to ask that the draft EHCP is amended in order to specify all of the SEP for your child, you need to do this within the 15 days.

You could remind Surrey that in Law Section F of the EHCP it must specify all of the SEP, regardless of who is delivering it.

Outcomes should appear in Section E of the EHCP. These will often be taken from reports written by professionals. These should be medium term goals set for your child. Outcomes become increasingly important from Year 9 as your child enters the 'preparing for adulthood' stage and post 16 onwards, as the EHCP remains in place until outcomes have been met. Outcomes are not appealable.

If you are unable to persuade Surrey at the draft EHCP stage to properly specify all of the provision that is needed then you will need to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal when the EHCP is finalised. The deadline for appealing is two months from the date of the final plan or one month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever date falls the latest. For more information on appeals please visit our appeals and mediation page.

Naming a School in Section I

At draft stage, Section I should be blank there the LA must not include the name of a particular school, college or other Educational placement or what type of placement your child will attend.

This is because the EHCP must reflect your child's needs and the provision to meet those needs, not the resources which can be offered in a particular placement. This means that the name and/or type of placement will appear only in the final EHCP, not the draft plan.

At draft stage you will name your preference of School or Schools. You do this by completing a form that comes with the draft or by simply emailing your Case Officer the name of the School.

If you do not know which School you want you can ask your Case Officer for help in identifying one.

After your 15 days the LA will consult with your preference of schools / placements as well as where they believe is the nearest suitable school. You can ask your Case Officer which School this is. If you are naming a School that your child already attends the LA will still consult with them.

What should a plan look like?

Your Case Officer should copy and paste the wording from reports into section B for needs and section F for provision. They are not able to add anything that is not stated in the reports.

Sections B and F are side by side on Surrey's EHCP. All professional reports will list need and provision under the four broad areas of SEND.

There are:

• Communication and interaction.
• Cognition and learning.
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
• Sensory and/or physical needs.

While you are checking your child's Plan, remember:

• Plans should also be clear, concise, understandable and accessible to parents, children, young people, providers and practitioners.
• The Law requires needs and provision to be 'specified', which Case Law has established means no vagueness, especially in the provision sections.

Useful information

This guidance can be used in line with the Council for disabled children (CDC) guidance - Education, Health and Care plans - examples of good practice and our information on EHCP and the section contents (PDF).

An EHCP being quantified or specified

What does quantified and specified mean?

Quantified and specified means information that is described in a way that it is crystal clear to anyone reading it. It means that information is precise and unambiguous. Something is quantified when the amount is calculated clearly.

EHCPs are binding, legal documents, which should detail what the child or young person's needs are and precisely what support they will receive to meet each of those needs.

Firstly, advice sought by professionals to inform the EHCP should be quantified and specified.

The evidence and advice submitted by those providing it should be clear, accessible and specific. They should provide advice about outcomes relevant for the child or young person's age and phase of education and strategies for their achievement. The local authority may provide guidance about the structure and format of advice and information to be provided. Professionals should limit their advice to areas in which they have expertise. They may comment on the amount of provision they consider a child or young person requires and local authorities should not have blanket policies which prevent them from doing so.

SEND Code of Practice

The advice sought from professionals will set out the support needed in the following sections:

• Section F; the special educational provision required by the child or young person.
• Section G; any health care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs.
• Section H; any social care provision which must be made for the child or young person as a result of section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
• Section H2; any other social care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs.

This is set out in Regulation 12 of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. These are the areas of the EHCP that you will want to check for specificity and quantification.

Then, in writing EHCP, Surrey County Council must by law specify the support children and young people must receive.

Provision must be specified for each and every need specified in section B. It should be clear how the provision will support achievement of the outcomes.

The detail in an EHCP should mean that children and young people with an EHCP, their parents and the professionals who are supporting them know exactly what support is in place. This should include details regarding what the Special Educational Needs (SEN) are, what Special Educational Provision (SEP) is required, how often they will receive it, how long it will be, when & where they will receive it, who will deliver the provision & what level of training and expertise they need to hold.

Provision must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, for example, in terms of the type, hours and frequency of support and level of expertise, including where this support is secured through a Personal Budget.

Remember that SEP is defined as educational provision or in the case of the Children and Families Act 2014, educational or training provision which is "additional to or different from" that made generally for others of the same age in mainstream settings. This means that all the support which the child or young person is receiving which is additional or different must be set out and specified.

Surrey have a statutory duty to specify as required by section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014:

an EHCP is a plan specifying:

(a) the child's or young person's special educational needs;
(b) the outcomes sought for him or her;
(c) the special educational provision required by him or her;
(d) any health care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in him or her having special educational needs;
(e) in the case of a child or a young person aged under 18, any social care provision which must be made for him or her by the local authority as a result of section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (as it applies by virtue of section 28A of that Act);
(f) any social care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs, to the extent that the provision is not already specified in the plan under paragraph (e) …

Children and Families Act 2014

Once such detail is set down, it enables the support to be enforced, parents and young people can tell when provision is inadequate or is not being delivered at all. If the provision sections are vague or omit things, the plan will not be any use.

An example, if the provision is to take part in group activities, the detail should also include:

• what the activity is
• what the activity content is
• how long the activity will run for
• how long each session will be
• how frequently the group will meet
• what size the group is
• who will deliver it
• what level of training & expertise they need to have

Needs and Provision; needs must be adequately described first!

The sections dealing with provision depend on getting the needs sections right. The case law below is about statements, but it is expected that these cases will be applicable to EHCP too because the wording and duties they examine remain almost the same:

Court of Appeal in R v Secretary of State for Education and Science Ex Parte E (1992) 1 FLR 277.
This case also established that all needs must be described, not just those which have given rise to the statement, but those which may be being catered for by the school/institution. The judges said:

"Whilst the authority can undoubtedly take the view that some part of the child's special educational needs can be adequately provided by his ordinary school, once they (the authority) are bound to make and maintain a statement … that statement must … specify all the special educational provision to be made for the purpose of meeting those needs, whether provided by the authority or by the school … and with a degree of particularity sufficient to satisfy [the law on specificity]."

In A v Special Educational Needs & Disability Tribunal & Anor [2003] (25 November 2003) the court specifically considered the question of the order in which the parts of a statement should be written:

"In producing a statement ….it is the duty of a local education authority to decide first what are a child's special educational needs within Part 2, secondly what special educational provision is necessary to meet those needs within Part 3 and thirdly to make an appropriate placement within Part 4. These questions have to be addressed in this order because it is only when a decision has been taken as to a child's special educational needs that it is possible to decide what provision is required to meet them".

This underlines the principles that needs have to considered first and it means that provision should not be placement specific, i.e., the question of placement should be considered after, and not before the special educational provision has been specified in the statement and the same will apply to an EHCP.

How do I make my child's EHCP more specific and quantified?

Focus on the child's needs and the specifics of what they require to meet them. There can be an element of flexibility to the EHC plan, however this does not justify a lack of specific information where detail could reasonably be given.

Ask yourself:

• Are all the SEN referred to in the evidence detailed in Section B of the Plan? If not go through adding in what is missing, keeping a note of where in the evidence the missing information is contained.
• Then carry out the same exercise in relation to special educational provision. Is all the special educational provision in Section F of the EHCP? Is the SEP in the right section?
• Then consider whether the outcomes are properly specified. Also check that social care needs, or health care needs are properly described as well as social care provision and health care provision, remember though that provision which educates or trains is special educational provision, not health care provision.
• Now go back and look for what we call the 'weasel words', such as 'access to', 'opportunities for' or 'up to' as in 'up to X hours'. These are vague, meaningless and may dilute the provision that is needed. Words like this need to be removed and redrafted so that it is clear exactly what has been specified.

If, following assessments, the report writers have written vague and unspecified strategies in their reports, the case officer should be ensuring the evidence they receive makes the EHCP legally compliant.

Case Law on specificity

There was a Judicial Summary which is around specificity; JD v South Tyneside Council (SEN): [2016] UKUT 9 (AAC) – HS/1185/2015 (PDF).

Changing an EHCP

Once in place, an EHCP can be changed or ceased at any point. Once an EHCP is in place for a child or young person, it does not necessarily remain static.

These are examples of reasons why an EHCP may need to be changed:

• it may become apparent quite quickly that the EHCP does not specify the special educational needs (SEN) or provision adequately
• the school placement may break down
• it may simply be that the EHCP becomes out of date, especially where outcomes may have been too unambitious or short term
• you may move to another Local Authority (LA)
• it may happen that the child or young person makes so much progress that the EHCP is no longer needed or
• the LA may decide that it wishes to cease to maintain the EHCP.

In addition, at least once a year the EHCP is required to be reviewed under the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014. This is called an Annual Review. If you child is in childcare (so at a pre-school or Nursery) then the Plan should be reviewed every 3 and 6 months. (Code of Practice 9.178).

Surrey can decide to amend an EHCP at any time as it is a live working document. It maybe that your Annual Review is due soon or you could call an Emergency Annual Review (which is similar to an early AR).

More information can be found under annual reviews.

Ceasing an EHCP

All the information regarding the LA ceasing an EHCP is on the appeals page.

If the LA write to you to inform you that they are considering ceasing your child's EHCP and they are in education and/or learning then you must email then back to state this. Reply to the email, copy in your Case Officer if you know their email address and copy in the setting (for example the school or college) where your child attends. It may be that the LA's system is not up to date and does not record the correct details.

University

If a young person has an EHCP and is moving on from school or college to university, their Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) will cease as there is different funding in universities, including Disabled Student Allowances.

Student loans are available as well as the Disabled Students' Allowance which is non-repayable. Its availability is limited to cases where specific learning difficulties are complex. The EHCP gives you reasons to argue complexity. We believe that the only issue will be that the Disabled Students' Allowance needs to be applied for 6 months before starting but do check that.

9.201 The circumstances where a local authority is no longer responsible for the child or young person include where any of the following conditions apply (subject to paragraphs 9.202 and 9.203 below:

* A young person aged 16 or over leaves education to take up paid employment (including employment with training but excluding apprenticeships)

* The young person enters higher education

* A young person aged 18 or over leaves education and no longer wishes to engage in further learning

* The child or young person has moved to another local authority area.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 2015

Re-assessment request

As parents or a young person you may request a re-assessment if you believe that:

• the needs of your child or young person have changed since the last EHCP was issued or
• a different kind of help or more help, is needed or
• your child or young person should attend a different kind of school or college.

A re-assessment will be an opportunity to gather new evidence to work out what support your child or young person now needs. When you write to Surrey Local Authority (LA) asking for a re-assessment of your child or young person's education, health and care needs, explain why you think the current EHCP is not good enough.

The LA do not have to reassess if they have carried out an assessment within the previous six months or if they consider that a further assessment is not necessary, but they will write to you to highlight this. The discussion whether to reassess will be taken to a Governance Board that meet on a weekly basis.

Please note that if you already have the evidence of the changes needed it may be more effective to request that the EHCP is amended after a review. This could be after an annual review or you could request an early review.