‘Final’ EHCP - no child specific support, no funding

[MoreDataPls]

I’m looking for advice on challenging my child’s EHCP and what my next steps should be. I have 7 days to do this. After a long battle, my Y10 child was granted an EHCP. When I received the draft, it was extremely basic. There was no specific provision, none of the recommendations from the Ed Psychologist (commissioned by the council) were included and nothing in the plan was SMART.
I went through the draft in detail, submitted written feedback and attended a meeting with the council and school to review it. I highlighted multiple inaccuracies inc my child being referred to as the opposite sex. I shared minutes of the meeting and followed up afterwards.
After 19 weeks, I received the “final” EHCP. The only changes are one additional sentence. The funding allocated is £0. The EP report and my feedback have been ignored, and the factual errors are still there.
I contacted SOSSEN, but they’ve said that because the council is calling this a “final” EHCP, they can’t help further. I’m at a complete loss as to how you can spend years fighting for appropriate support for your child, only to end up with a document like this. If anyone has been through similar or can advise on next steps, I’d be really grateful.

Ask for the school to do an emergency annual review and for their LEA linked plan coordinator to be there. Ask for changes then. You do not need to wait a year for a review, they can be called when needed.

Is the school supportive?

If the EHCP has been finalised, appeal. If the EHCP has only just been finalised, you have more than 7 days left to do this. Don’t bother with mediation, just get the certificate and submit an appeal to SENDIST.

If the LA has only just finalised, they are unlikely to agree to an early review at this point. Even if they do, it doesn’t mean they will agree to make the necessary amendments, so you might end up appealing anyway.

No, the school are not supportive. it’s a state school but has very few children with an EHCP. My older children did really well here. at the time i naively thought its such a good school my youngest (ADHD, ASD and Hyper-mobile) would be fine. In terms of behaviour they are OK but they do not retain any information (they still get lost in the building after 4 years!), have no written or comprehension skills but quite enjoy subjects and happy to go to school and has a small group of close friends.

thank you for that info. I will contact the school on Monday to request this.

thank you. thats really helpful. I have challenged back to the council to say I still think it's in draft due to the errors and there are no real changes to the draft, but I will trigger the SENDIST too. Because my child is in Y10 I feel they are running out of time to get the support they need.

You disagreeing with the content, doesn’t mean it is a draft. It isn’t uncommon for EHCPs to be finalised despite the parents being happy with the content/the proposed amendments not all being made. That is why so many have to appeal.

EHCPs can continue until 25, or 26 in some cases, so don’t panic about running out of time.

If you want an early review, by all means speak to the school, but you should make a request to the LA. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

Be prepared to really push. Sadly it's the squeaky wheel that gets oiled. Have you had a phone call or a Teams meeting with the PlanCo? A decent one will push for your child at a funding panel if you've got them onside. An inexperienced or apathetic PlanCo may not.

thanks once again for the useful advice. I have had a look at IPSEA. I'm going to get a mediation certificate and then go to Tribunal. My council is one of those thats being disbanded in April 2027. Im just hoping they are not stringing it out on purpose.

I don't see how an EHCP should ever be agreed with zero funding. What's the point of them?! Yep appeal, you should be offered mediation within 1 month where you pull out all the areas of the reports that have been ignored and all the woolly bits.

Had similar problem. I was advised to go to tribunal. Good luck!

There isn't any point in asking for an annual review. The purpose of a review is to consider how an EHCP has been working. There is no way that an LA will accept that a review is necessary for an EHCP that has only just been finalised. It wouldn't help you particularly either: if the LA is reluctant to amend the EHCP, and annual review won't make them more willing.

The funding issue is a red herring. There is no requirement for funding to be set out in the EHCP. However, the law is absolutely clear that the council has a duty to secure all the provision in the EHCP, therefore it has to give the school enough funding to enable it to deliver that provision if its existing SEN budget doesn't cover it.

If the LA has served the EHCP signed, with a school placement named and with an accompanying letter saying it is the final version and you have a right of appeal, then you need to use the right of appeal. I suspect that is what SOS SEN said also.

Focus on ensuring B&F are accurate and correctly worded rather than the funding. That way, the LA is ultimately responsible for ensuring the provision is provided and can be enforced.

Many Thanks for the recent supportive comments and advice. I have registered a SEND35 appeal saying I don't agree with sections B&F. I have a meeting with the school SENCO after half term to review the EP report again. I'll put pressure on her to implement at least some of the EP recommendations.