EHCP Help!

[WaryLilacTraybake]

Hi not sure where to ask this so I'm trying my luck on here.

So my daughter has been issued an EHCP. our preffered School stated can't meet need but didn't give any legal reasons as to why they can so the SENA named this school 2 weeks ago and sent me a copy. I've been told the school were still trying to refuse and was assured that senior managers had since contacted the school staying the stick by there direction for the school to take my daughter. That's the last I heard. I've now recently received a phone call from the inclusion team asking if we can put mu daughter on roll at another school and name that school for now.. my daughter would not cope at the school they suggesting so of course I've said no. I have no idea what this is about and it has thrown me.

So my question is can the LA just change the named setting without permission after only recently naming the setting in the EHCP?

No, the LA should not do this.

The LA can amend the EHCP either via a review (which wouldn’t normally be held so close to finalising the first EHCP and is not intended for this situation) or at any time without a review (which they can do as per Regulation 28 of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 as long as they proceed as though it was following a review. But, and it is a big but, this also isn’t intended to cover situations like this.)

The school named must admit. They can be forced to via judicial review if they try to refuse.

The school could, in theory, pursue judicial review themselves if the LA has named their school unlawfully. This very, very rarely happens because the bar is high. It isn’t enough for the school to disagree with the decision. Most schools can also ask the Secretary of State to determine if they should have been named. However, again, this is rare because it isn’t simply enough to disagree. And the school must still admit in the meantime.

This is all assuming the school isn't wholly independent.

Thank you so much for your reply that has made me feel a bit more at ease.

I can confirm that the school is a mainstream Academy And General admissions for this academy are done through the LA