EHCP support thread no. 4

Parking my bum.

DS has been refused to issue a plan.

Had mediation, what a waste of time. But I wanted to try as quicker than tribunal.
LA were awful!

In middle of doing appeal form.

He is currently needing 30.5 hours 1-2-1, LA state his needs can be met via local offer and teaching 🙃

Waiting to see if eligible for legal aid - anyone working this legal aid? Are you able to get private reports?

An EHCNA is the needs assessment you (or another professional) first request as part of the process of getting (or not!) an EHCP. You don’t apply directly for an EHCP, you request an EHCNA.

Thank you for your reply, could you explain the difference between an EHCP and a EHCNA?
very new to all this.

@Applesandpears58 when you say the nursery has started towards an EHCP, has an EHCNA request actually been submitted to the LA? If not, you should make the request yourself ASAP. On their website, ISPEA has a model letter you can use. If a request has been submitted, what week are you on?

Delaying DS starting by 6 months would need careful thought. It is possible you won’t have an EHCP by then, so he would then start in reception in mainstream but having missed the first 6 months of transitioning into reception. Would DS's nursery allow him to stay on? Are his needs currently being met? There’s the option of sending him part-time too.

Because DS is summer born, you could request to defer, so he starts reception in Sept 2026. However, without an EHCP, you would need to school’s admission authority to agree to being educated outside of DS’s chronological year group. This would also need careful thought. Because of how long even expedited appeals are taking at the moment, you may not have a good EHCP by September 2026 if you haven’t to appeal each stage. Deferring won’t solve your issues, but it will allow you time to secure a watertight EHCP when there may not be time for a 2025 start.

If DS is to start reception in Sept 2025 or at any point in that academic year, you should make an application for a place via the normal admissions procedure because you won’t have a finalised EHCP by the application deadline. If an EHCP is later finalised, the school named in there with override any place offered via the normal admission arrangements. In line with the government’s handling admission requests for summer born children guidance, even if you want to defer DS to be educated outside his chronological year group, most (?all) areas require you to apply in the normal age group as well.

Do you have any specialist early years assessment places in your area for DC who are going or need to go through the EHCNA process?

Good Afternoon all,
I have just found this thread and it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us!!
I have a DS who is coming up 3 1/2, very behind on his speech and we have had a number of other issues at nursery. We are currently on the NHS waiting list to see a paediatric consultant which is a 2 year wait. Last week we saw a private consultant in London, she made us realise, as well as this thread has, about how broken the system is. Currently going through NHS SALT which really is not helpful, so looking at private speech therapists who all seem to be over subscribed.
Nursery have started towards a EHCP for DS, and consultant we saw says she will support us with one as well.

• Any advice, useful tips welcome for a beginner
• We have been advised to see an occupational therapist, what does one of these do (potential autism) and how can it help towards a EHCP.
• We have started down the private sector with SALT and potentially OT, are these taken into account for EHCP or do NHS reports take priority.

DS is due to start school Sept 2025, has anyone deferred entry by 6 months/ 1 year and was it beneficial for your child.

TIA for any information.

@OnlyHope33 there are SEMH schools. There are also schools who take both SEMH and ASD DC. However, if DS’s primary need (whether the primary need is stated in the EHCP or not. Not all LAs state the primary need. They don’t have to.) is ASD, a SEMH school is unlikely to be the right place.

It is normal for schools to raise objections when consulted. Sometimes they genuinely don’t think they can meet needs. Other times it is more nuanced than that and is e.g. about funding.

Because your preferred school is not wholly independent, the LA does not need them to agree to being named. The LA must name your preferred school unless the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.
This is a higher bar than many LAs and schools admit. If the LA doesn’t believe any of the legal exceptions apply, they can and must name them.

If 1:1 is required, it can and should be included in F. That applies regardless of the school you prefer/DS will be placed in. Some pupils in SS do need and have 1:1.

@Mummynwe under another name, I posted on one of the other threads you posted on. Don’t want you to think I am ignoring you.

Good evening,

I am back once again to pester anyone who has knowledge / experience regarding a specialist school declining a place due to level of SEMH needs? I spoke to co-ordinater today and the specialist school I chose for DS to attend has responded that they are not able to meet need due to the level of SEMH need. The school is non independent, on research of the school they mention that they cater for children with ASD / Autism conditions.
DS'S co-ordinater stated that they will be sending it back to them as the response is not sufficient and it does not specify whether they can meet provision in section I. I assume the outcome / response will lead to appeal.
However I would just like to know if it's a common occurance that specialist schools cherry pick students? On paper, the school I named as first choice, seems to be the best school to cater to DS needs, has been continually rated outstanding, the response has somewhat surprised me. My expectation was that they would state they are at capacity. DS's EHCP does not specify 1-2-1 support, though I believe it should. Is it possible that with no mention of 1-2-1 support in DS's EHCP has contributed to their response? With that in mind should I push for 1-2-1 support? I was informed by DS's co-ordinater that they typically would not specify 1-2-1 in the EHCP as specialist schools are better equipped, have smaller class sizes etc. unless DS was attending a mainstream school. Is there such a thing as specialist schools that specialises or are more equipped to manage SEMH needs? I have done a little investigation but nothing really comes up. Again any help would be most appreciated, thanks in advance.

Just checking in🫡

Please can someone help me check if the draft ehcp is appropriate and wholly.

Hi

I just wanted to know if the draft ehcp is quantified and supportive of my child and not wholly and vague.

Thank you. I think both will be needed - I will push the complaint to stage 2 and also do my research on finding independent assessment providers that I can request the LA to commission given that they acknowledge that their own providers cannot meet need.

So frustrating.

@handmademitlove Just because the LA has responded to your complaint in that way doesn’t make it true. You know that. They know that. It’s a matter of going through the motions. Reg 6(1)(h) is clear. It doesn’t matter what is normally offered locally on the NHS.

The choice is either JR (although many don’t go down this route for failure to seek info under Reg 6(1)(h) because it doesn’t guarantee a watertight report, and you have already acknowledged an alternative remedy) &/or seek independent assessments.

@BrightYellowTrain I know! the ipsea template is what I based the complaint email on - and yet the complaints department went and asked SEN team, who said they sought advice - and they can't force them to respond as they are nhs and not LA.

Our LA are known for their avoidance - They pretty much only include reports from EP and then any services they are already under. I am not sure how to force them to seek assessment elsewhere in the case that DD is not known to nhs services.
The wording in the code of practice is unclear - it talks about the LA "must gather advice and information" but it has been suggested that the EP report is sufficient to meet that point. How to ensure specialist assessment where needed eg for significant sensory issues relating to ASD which our local OT don't do. I suspect they will rely on the EP report as I know this has been the case with others. Am awaiting the EP report and hoping they have included the need for specialist assessment.

@handmademitlove a response of not known to the service does not fulfil the LA’s duty to seek advice and information under reg 6(1)(h) despite what the LA is saying. That type of response is not sufficient. If the LA genuinely cannot fulfil their duty in-house/via the NHS, they should commission independent advice and information.

See this page - We are aware some services respond with a letter saying something like “not known to this service”. However, this does not meet your LA’s legal duty to get advice in relation to needs, outcomes and provision.

Have you contacted the professionals/services directly too?

Seeking info from the collective hive mind!

LA have responded to my level 1 complaint that "not known to service" is not a proper response to a request for advice. They have responded to say that they only have a duty to ask for information - not actually get it, and as the services asked have declined to contribute, that is the end of that!

Any suggestions on how to respond when requesting it is progressed to level 2 complaint? I am assuming this is not a legitimate response!

Yes, I have! And she comes highly recommended by others locally. I think it's her main business...

@Macramepotholder make sure the SALT has experience of SENDIST and will write a tribunal standard report.

Thank you, that's really helpful and confirmed what I suspected about just paying for the assessment (which is a lot less than 1k and will get me a proper report).

They've annoyed me so much I just really wanted to! But I'll save the money and energy for another part of the fight. They will almost definitely refuse to issue as their standard MO so the tribunal won't look well on them.

@Macramepotholder all firms are inundated at the moment. Coram is one of the busiest and one of the cheapest. If you go down the pre-action letter route, there are other firms you could try, e.g. Birkett Long, Watkins, Watkins & Gunn, Simpson Millar, Sinclairs and Bailey Wright. Some advocacy services do them cheaper. Be careful going down that route. Make sure they know what they are doing. I have seen some dreadful attempts. Also, if the pre-action letter doesn’t work, some firms want to send their own letter first. And some LAs take pre-action letters written by someone without a legal aid contract less seriously because they know the parents will then need to look for a firm to take the JR proceedings on.

The cost when it isn’t a guarantee of a watertight report is why parents don’t tend to go down the pre-action letter route for ‘just’ failure to seek advice and information in the NA although they can in theory. For a solicitor, you are looking at nearly £1k to well over £1k. Personally, I wouldn’t bother unless you have money to burn or know what you are doing yourself. The money would be better spent on assessments.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get a JR pre-action letter done? I've put in queries with Coram and SOSSEN but they both just have a holding message saying they'll get back in due course and we're on something of a deadline.

Also interested in approximate costs- have decided to shell out for a private SALT assessment anyway so full range of needs are identified as I think the LA one will be insufficient, so if it's going to cost loads I might as well leave it and just use the private assessment much as I want to stick it to them.

As frustrating as it is, that is completely normal. Sometimes they don’t even bother sending a SEND7 to request an extension.

My Tribunals final evidence deadline was 1/11 at noon. 30 minutes before the deadline the LA sent a SEND7 requesting a three week extension! They’ve
only been aware of deadline since July! FFS!

@SavedHistory yes, the LA could finalise even if you object to the content/placement. You will get the right of appeal when the LA finalise the EHCP, so if you want to you can appeal.

The OT should be giving their own advice and information but they can present that anyway they like as long as it is sufficient. Is the report sufficient?

@SavedHistory I used the SOSSEN draft EHCP analysis service a few months ago and was really happy with it. It cost £100 and pointed out quite a few issues I otherwise wouldn’t have realised.

I used the analysis to suggest amendments and some of these were accepted. Some weren’t, but I was going to appeal anyway.

That is quite scary. So, there could be a scenario whereby an ECHP is finalised without parents agreement…parents can appeal though?

I just got this reply:
‘The OT advice is combined with the other health services to create the APP C (Joint health report) so its not separate as such, just added on to.’

Is this right?