EHCP placement consultation

[unstablefeeling]

Wondering if anyone here has the legal knowledge to help me as SENDIAS have a really long waiting list for calls.
Applied for an EHCP in August for my daughter, now year 8, who had been out of school since Feb 2024 with EBSA. Large mainstream comp openly admitted they can't meet needs. Daugher is ASD and ADHD with anxiety disorder.
Needs Assessment took place in Feb/March 2025 and Final plan was issued on April 10th. It named the school DD is currently on roll at, despite not attending for over a year now, but I was assured that this was just temporary while they did the placement consultation. LA consulted with: current school, 2 local mainstreams, 1 local Special School for girls with Moderate Learning Difficulties (she doesn't have MLD) and our parental choice, which is a very small independent mainstream which has about 50% of its pupils on EHCPs apparently. We have been offered a provisional place by this school, and DD has had trial days there and gone in with no anxiety at all (a miracle as she's suffered with EBSA since year 5).
Local Authority kept telling me that they hadn't received responses from any of the schools apart from the special school. They kept saying this in at least 3 emails over the course of a month or so, well past the 15 days deadline (up until the end of May).
Eventually I chased up all the schools myself and it turned out that they had actually all replied by the end of April, and all had said they couldn't meet needs.
EHCCO is now ignoring my emails, and so is the head of service, all the other team members I've cc.ed into the emails and the SEND resolutions email etc.
The deadline for applying for tribunal is next week, so I have contacted Global Mediation, but I only said I wanted to appeal Section I, which I now realise was a mistake and I should have said B and F as well.
Does anyone know where I stand? Do the LA have a deadline for sorting out the placement or can they just leave it hanging as it is, despite the school in Section I not being able to meet needs (and my daughter literally not being able to set foot on the premises, no matter what support they put in place). How long can they leave it hanging for? Until the Tribunal? I'm really keen for her to start year 9 in September at the new school, rather than waiting for this to be resolved in the LA's own time.

They can leave it hanging

you can do a SAR to request the consultation responses

register the appeal for section I

you can do a send 7 to add on B&F later if you want. Or get another mediation certificate now and register B, F, I now

youll need to pay for her to attend the Indy school in September until you get it named

or have no school place and risk the Indy school giving the space away

the Indy school need to fill in a POP form for you

when your register the appeal, ask for expedited timetable because child out of school currently

Sorry for the very brief reply but I'm at work.

You lose your right to appeal on 10th June, not next week.
It's 2 calender months from the date of issue.

Get the Mediation cert today. Lodge the appeal, B,F and I.

Realistically your dc isn't starting school until you go to tribunal.

Request alternative education provision in the meantime.

Definitely appeal. The onus is on you to appeal now.

I’m not sure from your post whether you have submitted an appeal yet or not, but either way there is still chance to appeal B&F as well as I. If you haven’t submitted an appeal yet, contact Global Mediation again. Don’t bother actively partaking in mediation, it rarely works for placements, especially independent placements, just request the mediation certificate and submit to SENDIST.

You can request the appeal is expedited on the basis DD isn’t in school. However, unless the LA concede beforehand, and there is no guarantee they will concede at all, the case will not be settled before September.

Separate to the EHCP process, request provision under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use. The LA is also still responsible for anything detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP.

You lose your right to appeal on 10th June, not next week.

10th June is next week. Although a mediation certificate will extend the deadline.

Thanks everyone. I will get back in touch with Global Mediation and request the certificate for B, F & I. No I haven't submitted the appeal yet, I will do it over the weekend I guess.

Yes June 10th is Tuesday next week so I have a few days! I may or may not hear back from Global Mediation by 10th June as they have said 5 working days and I only contacted them on Monday this week. So I can't risk waiting.
I guess I'll do the SEND35 form asap and then add additional documents later. I naively believed them when they said the placement consultation would be quick!

Re: Section 19, I requested this back in December but it was refused because the Needs Assessment was "imminent". I don't know if I have a right to appeal this? Didn't bother at the time as believed their interpretation of the word "imminent". I know that the school she's currently on roll at are now receiving additional funding for her as per the EHCP, at least that's what the LA told me, but that school aren't offering us anything and up until now I didn't think it mattered as was so sure she'd be at the new school by now!

Email the Director of Children’s Services requesting section 19 provision again. If refused, you can’t appeal, but you can send a pre-action letter. SOSSEN can help with that if you need it, but they have a waiting list so you might want to look elsewhere.

You need the mediation certificate to submit a BFI appeal. As long as you contact Global Mediation by next week, don’t worry if they don’t send the certificate by Tuesday. The mediation certificate extends deadline to appeal.

Can't advise you on the legal side. I agree though that you need to get the small Indy school to accept your daughter and pay for her place until you get it named. It doesn't sound like there is another school that you feel will properly meet your daughter's needs. Indy school won't wait if they have other children wanting the place. The reality is that even if eventually you get indie school named on the form, and the LA have to agree to fund it, while SEN does give high priority for school places in the LA schools, there is no guarantee that it does for a private school and it won't force a free space if your child's year group is full. Everyone could eventually agree to Indy school and they could still turn round and say you're 4th or 5th on the waiting list for your child's year group, she may get in sometime, and you are back to home ed or another school.

With an EHCP, a wholly independent school wouldn’t be named in the EHCP if the school wouldn’t admit. It wouldn’t be named if the school said no the child had to go on the waiting list.

Some independent schools are willing to hold the place to wait for Tribunal. Some won’t. And some will only hold it so long - in which case, if that date is before the hearing, once the appeal is registered you can ask for it to be brought forward although there is no guarantee SENDIST will agree especially if they will only hold it a short time.

Would it harm our chances of getting the independent school named if we pay the fees ourselves while we wait? Would this make them think we could afford to pay long term? We can't afford long term, but we could borrow the first term's fees.

No

It won’t harm your chances with SENDIST.

The LA might be less likely to concede because they may think you might withdraw and just continue to fund the placement yourself, but there’s no guarantee they would concede even if you don’t self fund the first term.

No if that's going to be the school they name, it will make no difference, because they have to allocate a place at a suitable school even if you then chose to take her out of the state system. However, they don't HAVE to agree to fund the private school that you have chosen to pay for, if they have a cheaper alternative that would meet her needs. So if you get her there, she settles, is happy and then they recommend a different school (say a small, special school, that they already fund and have places at) they could refuse to fund the private school, on the basis that it isn't cost effective for them and isn't essential to providing her an education (because they have a good alternative). Then you would need to move her to the school they recommend, or keep her at the private school continuing to pay the fees yourselves.

They’d need a good reason to move her school if settled and needs met. Cost of their suggested placement doesn’t necessarily have to be 1p cheaper and it will be picked over your school. It’s about reasonable expenditure. The whole package including transport and therapies.

What @Whatsnmynameagain9 said.

The bar for unreasonable public expenditure is actually higher than many LAs think. And a placement that may be inefficient use of resources may not be unreasonable public expenditure. SENDIST is also entitled to consider all costs. LAs like to try to argue some placements are nil cost because they are place funded. That isn’t the case. It is just the LA trying to cherry pick what numbers they use.