EHCP funding during Covid-19

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Please help.
Our LA are resisting releasing some funds from my DS' EHCP during this period. We are wanting to use it for him to attend the early intervention programme with his neurologist (who we privately pay for outside school). They are stating that because he is in a special school the funding goes directly to the school, wheres in a mainstream school it would've more straight forward? Sounds like discrimination to me.
They also mention his school is open so he can attend, but we had his annual review on Friday and his teacher and senior leadership team agree its not the right provision and they cannot meet his needs. They also said the children are just playing which would not help him as he needs a structured environment. This is why the neuropsychologist has been so successful with him.
It's such a frustrating situation and I've been through a fight before with the LA. It's so stressful all the tooing and froing with them when I have a son with ASD and another DD to homeschool. Part of me wants to give up before the fight but just wondered if anyone knew of anything legal I can use. It doesn't help the DfE have changed the law so councils have no legal obligation to provide support and only have to show 'reasonable endeavours have been taken.
TIA

Have you tried asking the school to fund the programme if they are not able to meet his needs at the moment?

Hi Ellie56
Thanks for your message. The head said she can't release any funding as it's all tied up in the school, he's in a special school and apparently works differently to a mainstream. It's exhausting.

You could only make the LA fund the programme if it is in the EHCP. I agree that it is probably sensible to talk to the school about releasing funding to cover this programme.

Apart from that, I think you're probably best off trying to push forward a change of schools. Under normal circumstances, the LA has to issue a decision about whether it is going to change the EHCP within four weeks of the AR meeting; if it is, it has to issue a draft amended EHCP without delay and then finalise it within 8 weeks. Those time limits are currently relaxed but the LA still has to justify going past them, so keep the pressure on.