EHCP support thread no. 3

[Phineyj]

A new thread for when no. 2 is full up.
Link to thread no. 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4834986-ehcp-support-thread
Link to thread no. 2:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4989146-ehcp-support-thread-no-2

I am the mum of an 11 year old girl with SEN and have spent the last 20 months battling for my local authority to issue an EHCP to support her transition from primary to secondary school. We are currently after draft stage after two tribunals. I've had so much useful advice and moral support from posters on here.

This new thread is here to help everyone, whether you're just starting out or are a battle-hardened veteran of years of this.

There is no such thing as a stupid question and there are many acronyms and technical terms so please ask for an explanation of anything that you don't understand.

SEN: special educational needs (sometimes SEND: special educational needs and disability)
SENCO: teacher at school charged with overall responsibility for students on roll with SEN
ECHNA: education care and health needs assessment - the process of a local authority commissioning reports to find out a child's needs
EHCP: the education care and health plan that details a child's needs and the agreed provision to meet them; a legally binding document
SENDIST: the special educational needs and disability tribunal - an independent appeal panel which considers parental appeals against Education Authority decisions about special educational needs.

Good luck tomorrow, @Wednesdayy123.

@Worriedmotheroftwo time allocated to each case will vary. The time is irrelevant really if they haven’t considered all information &/or haven’t followed the law. They could spend a week on the case and you still need to appeal.

@Macramepotholder I didn't add anything extra at case review stage, although I did a SEN7 form around that time to try to expedite things (but that's because it was a phase transfer and I think your DC's in year 5 so that wouldn't apply?)

@Worriedmotheroftwo what would you do with that info? If your case is good then your case is good. At appeal, SENDIST will look to see if the evidence supports that the LA should have issued (I think they already know most/all LAs are a bit crap by now!)

Good question - I guess I suspect they haven't read the evidence other than the EL so haven't done the process properly? I don't really know - I'm very out of my depth here!

So could you you possibly just explain... so my understanding is, I submit the SEND35 form which is my appeal. Then SENDIST writes to the LA and gives them 30 days to come back with a response to whatever I wrote in my SEND35 form. They do that, then we get given deadlines for evidence collection by SENDIST plus a hearing date.

So what do you mean: "At appeal, SENDIST will look to see if the evidence supports that the LA should have issued"? Is there a chance that SENDIST might just overrule the LA if they've blatantly not followed the rules and not make us go to tribunal?

Also, what happens if the LA'S response to my SEND35 form is rubbish? I don't think they sought advice from everyone they're supposed to seek advice from, so don't know how they're going to argue it, but if they try, can SENDIST just overule them at that point?

Do I even make sense? Sorry, I've had to learn a lot very quickly and I don't fully get it yet!

Many thanks.

Also, I just came across this data - old anyone please tell me exactly what 'decided', 'withdrawn' (by the parent?) and 'conceded' (LA give up?) actually mean? Thanks!

@Worriedmotheroftwo knowing the time spent on the case won’t really help.

Decided - the case was decided by SENDIST.
Withdrawn - the appeal was withdrawn by the parents - caution is needed when looking at statistics because sometimes LAs pressure parents to withdraw instead of the LA conceding. You shouldn’t allow the LA to pressurise you into doing this.
Conceded - appeal conceded by the LA.

When looking at those statistics, you also need to consider it covers the time period of the changeover from Statements of SEN to EHCPs.

You submit the SEND35 form. The appeal then gets registered. At this point, SENDIST will write to you and the LA. Dates will be included in the registration letter. The LA then has to respond to the appeal within 30 working days with all the necessary information. You can see what the response must include here. The LA’s response to the appeal may well be inadequate. It often is. Cross that bridge if/when you get to it. Unfortunately, there aren’t any serious repercussions. SENDIST won’t Order the LA to issue without hearing the case.

"Decided" means decided on by a panel after a hearing, or by way of a consent order. "Conceded" means that the LA accepted that the appeal was justified and didn't defend it. "Withdrawn" means that the parents withdrew the appeal. However, many parents withdraw because the LA has given them what they want. Really they should do it by way of consent order but that's something LAs tend to keep quiet from them.

Just dropping in. I’m on my SECOND appeal to SENDIST in the last 12 Months. Pre-School applied for an ECHNA in October 2023. LA refused to assess in Nov 2023. Appeal just before Christmas. LA conceded in Feb ´24. ECHNA conducted and then LA refused to issue in May. Refusal to issue appeal sent in July.

My LA is a safety valve areas and have been rated Inadequate by Ofsted since 2018.

DS is due to start school in Sept. I’m very nervous about how it is going to go as he is much more like a 3 year old than a 4 year old.

Hi @ThatsGoingToHurt have you done a SEN7 form as well to ask that the appeal be expedited as it's a phase transfer? I did that (otherwise similar to you but older) and just managed to get the EHCP through in June for a September start.

Ooh I just looked up phase transfers and the Internet says that includes: 'early years education to school'.

Does that count if a child is currently in Reception (Early Years) but will be moving into Year 1 at the same school?!

No sadly

Post Tribunal - does the Tribunal send us the consent order? There are things the judge asked our OT to specify so we need to send the wording agreed.

Can we complain and claim for lost provision which was agreed in WD but should have been provided 18 months ago when the specialists issued advice.

Have the LA got 1 term to make arrangements (so autumn term 2024), I am guessing there will be no SALT come week 1 in Sept?

Welcome @ThatsGoingToHurt.

@Alltheyearround provision must be in place by the time the LA finalise the EHCP, so 5 weeks. Case law supports this. Yes, SENDIST will send the order. You can try to complain to the LA, but don’t hold your breath.

Has anyone had success by threatening judicial review or even following through.
LA have named a school that can no longer meet needs, despite making many adaptations. DS is to anxious to even enter the building and I have two professional reports stating that the school environment is too overwhelming for him and contributing to a deterioration in mental health.

DS has been out of school since March, yet they continue to name his old school (mainstream with facility) and refuse special.

As their decision knowingly puts him out of education and without any of his EHCP need being met I’m investigating this option.

Any success stories?

@PeaHen99 I have had success. Personally and while supporting others.

Your EHCP appeal is the route to challenge the placement. Have you requested the hearing is expedited? JR about the placement named in section I isn’t possible most of the time. Occasionally JR is possible for the placement, but it would really depend on the specifics of your case.

If DC can’t attend school and alternative provision isn’t in place, email the Director of Children’s Services threatening Judicial Review. Same if there is anything detailed, specified and quantified in F that isn’t being received. If that doesn’t work, you will need a pre-action letter.

Hi all, currently going through a EHCP appeal process for DS 10, they assessed but refused to issue.

I’ve just had a private OT report back and she noted several issues observed with DS, coping strategies for him and school but noted at end of the report “Recommendations in this report need to be integrated throughout the day consistently to be effective. Goals should be worked on, communicated to parents and regularly reviewed. He does not require ongoing OT for this to be effective.”
is it a huge negative in terms of our appeal being successful that she has stated he does not need ongoing OT?

Stressing now again! Thanks.

@mollyminniemo was this an OT with experience of EHCP appeals? It sounds like it perhaps wasn’t? and also like you weren’t expecting this?

Not needing ongoing OT doesn’t automatically mean an appeal can’t be successful.

@BrumToTheRescue thanks for replying. I really appreciate it and am pleased JR has worked for you!

I will apply to expedite as soon the appeal is registered.

Im speaking to a solicitor on Thursday so will ask about the specifics of my case. Only a few of the provisions are quantifiable, but my main concern is that named school have said that he’s so dysregulated he’s started to get violent and they can’t keep him or those around him safe. He won’t even set foot in the building!

LA knew this when they refused a change of placement and continued to name the failed placement 🙄

Hi .BrumToTheRescuez thanks!
I did make this clear at the start and she has included that in background info but still put “This report has not been written for the purposes of a SENDIST Tribunal or the Court” which seems bizarre

@Alltheyearround great news re your tribunal, you must be so pleased and relieved!

I received the final EHCP this afternoon, tomorrow is the 20 week deadline. The school nursery hasn’t been named yet, as their consultation deadline is Friday so the LA will amend the final once they hear back.

I was supposed to have until Friday to submit my amendments but the LA were keen to finalise by 20 weeks. They took on board some of my suggestions (for Section B) but obviously ignored everything I added to F and ignored lots of things I changed in B.

Do I need to wait to receive an amended final with a named setting before I can request the mediation certificate and go ahead and submit the SEND35 form? I’m assuming I don’t need to send the final EHCP along with the form?

The SOS!SEN draft analysis was excellent and I’m really glad I got it done.

@mollyminniemo my OT report said similar and the OT said this is because reports written especially for tribunal are formatted differently (something about each line being numbered?). I asked if the report could still be used at tribunal and she said there was no reason why not.

I could be wrong but just wanted to share what I was recently told.

@PeaHen99 are you appealing sections B&F as well as I? You should.

@Ponche if you have a finalised EHCP, you should appeal now. Don’t wait. You would need to submit the EHCP when you submit the appeal, but it doesn’t matter that the LA say they will amend again at a later date.

@mollyminniemo I thought as much. All evidence can be used for an appeal, but a medico-legal report from someone with SENDIST experience is more helpful than a less comprehensive report from someone who doesn’t have SENDIST experience.

@Ponche thanks, yes. Glad it is done. It was OK when it came to it.

Hopefully get to enjoy some summer before we have to start dealing with them again near Sept.

Had a reply to a complaint we put it a while back.
We seem to always have one on the go.

My God, their BS is out of this world. They must have training on it. Mind you, lead SEND Officer. You have to have degree level BS and backside covering to get that high. Wonder how much his take home pay is?

I can feel my blood pressure rise in notches as I read.

Put the complaint letter down.
Step away from the complaint letter.

Ha. I put in a complaint to our LA @Alltheyearround and the response had me in a similar mood. It was such a "well it may not be ideal but tough shit" response. And they still haven't named a school so it's not even resolved.

I currently can't get an answer from anyone as to what's happening and I'm convinced they are planning to name one of the schools who said they couldn't meet need anyway. Just to try and avoid paying for our school.

I have got my MP to contact them so maybe that will shake some action. Less than 2 weeks left of school at this point.

Ponche & BrumToTheRescue thanks, aargh this is infuriating! I’ve hired an advocate. I’m now frustrated she didn’t make clear the OT should have SENDIST experience or the OT herself confirm this before we proceeded! I spent £850 on her assessment and report which to be honest is not much more thorough than the one previously.