Ehcna Timeline Help

[FunSuckkker]

My DD (six) is being assessed for an EHCP. The local authority agreed to assess on 17th June.

They’ve applied the exception for the summer holidays and I’ve been told to expect a final plan in October.

However, the assessments, including school information were sent back to the local authority before the end of term.

Some of the information was received back after term but by the end of July. Would an exception apply?

I’m very confused over the timeline. Should I have a draft by now? If not, when should I expect it?

TIA

So your 20 weeks gives the date of 4th Nov.

Have they agreed to issue?

The exceptions are where it is impractical for the LA to comply with the timescales because:
a) the LA requested advice from the school during a period beginning one week before a date the school closes for 4+ weeks and ending one week before it re-opens and it isn't practicable for the LA to comply within 6 weeks.
b) like above but about early years.
c) exceptional personal circumstances affect you or DC during that time period.
d) you or DC are absent from the LA for 4+ weeks during the time.

Even if one of the exceptions applies, it isn’t a green light to do as they wish. They must comply as soon as practicable.

There’s not enough information in your post to say for certain if an exception applies or not, but it sounds like it possibly doesn’t apply. When did the LA request advice and information from the school? Although even if advice was sought during the week before they closed/after they closed, if the school has replied and did so quickly, it is debatable whether that makes it impractical for the LA to comply. Have you/are you going on holiday for 4+ weeks? Are there exceptional circumstances that affect you/DC? You say the LA agreed to assess on 17th June, but when was the EHNCA first requested (or if there was a refusal to assess, when did they concede/were ordered to assess)?

The 20 weeks isn’t the 4th November because the 20 week timescale, if it applies without one of the exceptions, is from the date of the EHCNA request, not the date the LA agreed to assess.

Thankyou both.

@inthequietofdawn We are not going on holiday and there are no exceptional circumstances. The local authority have applied it because the school have closed for summer. However, DDs teacher told me before the end of term that their information had already been returned to school.

The educational psychologist has also already assessed DD before the end of term.

School requested a needs assessment on the 3rd of June and asked for an urgent decision as they were finding it difficult to meet her needs and need more support for September. The local authority confirmed they would assess her 2 weeks later on 17th June.

If they have applied the exception, do you know when I should expect a draft? It’s not been confirmed that DD will be getting a final plan but the consensus is that it’s highly likely she will.

The exception related to the schools is only if the LA requested advice from the school during a period beginning one week before a date the school closes for 4+ weeks and ending one week before it re-opens and it isn't practicable for the LA to comply within 6 weeks. It isn’t just because it is the summer holiday. Do you know when advice was requested? Was it at least a week before the school closed? Even if it was, because the exception only applies where it is impractical for them to comply, since the school provided the advice before the end of term I would argue it isn’t impractical.

If the EHCNA was requested on the 3rd June, the 20 weeks without an exception would be 21st October. If the LA has said to expect a finalised plan in October, it may not make any difference that they say the exception applies.

If an exception to the 20 weeks applies, there isn’t a set date for the draft or finalising. They must comply as soon as practicable.

@inthequietofdawn The local authority have told me to expect the final plan middle to end of October; you’re right it’s not going to make any difference. The email they sent me also states this.

I don’t know the dates the information was sent back to school but I know it was within the last 2 weeks of term as DDs teacher said she wanted to make sure it was done urgently.

It is possible that they haven’t applied an exception at all then. Sorry to ask again but if the plan is due in October, when should I expect to receive the draft plan?

Sorry to ask again but if the plan is due in October, when should I expect to receive the draft plan?

Ordinarily, if the LA is not going to issue, they must inform you within 16 weeks of the date of the EHCNA request. And ordinarily, if they are going to issue, they must finalise is 20 weeks and in order to do that they should (should, not must, it isn’t set out in legislation) send the draft by week 14.

If an exception to the 20 weeks applies as it is impractical because of one of the reasons in my pp, there isn’t a set date for the draft or finalising. They must comply as soon as practicable.

I don’t know the dates the information was sent back to school but I know it was within the last 2 weeks of term

It makes a difference whether the LA requested advice from the school in the last week of term or in the second to last. If the latter, the exception cannot apply. If the former, it can, although I would argue it isn’t impractical because of the school submitting the advice before the end of term and there the exception doesn't actually apply despite advice being sought during the last week.

It is possible that they haven’t applied an exception at all then.

Impossible to say based on this thread. Some will be finalised within 20 weeks even where one of the exceptions applies. So the LA saying they will finalise by October doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t recorded the case as having an exception applying.

@inthequietofdawn Thankyou for your help. I have an idea of when to expect it now so I will have to be patient.