EHCP draft meeting

[Thisismynewname123]

The LA have agreed to issuing my DD with an EHCP. I'm waiting to receive the draft, and we are scheduling a draft plan meeting. Who would usually attend the draft meeting? Will the SEN officer request the LA SALT and Ed Psych to attend? Who could I bring to support me (assuming IPSEA are not available)? Should I bring my own therapists with, or is that overkill? Is there someone who can look over the draft plan for me before the meeting, to help me with what changes I will need to ask for?

Have you contacted your local send iass? They should be able to advise and attend the meeting with you. Sossen will check plans for a fee. For a draft meeting I'd be very surprised if any professionals turned up or where even invited. Your case worker and representative from the local authority is all i would expect as all reports have been completed at this stage. Usually you only have a meeting regarding the plan if you disagree and want significant changes made.

Our planning meeting was to decide on the content of the EHCP and the draft was sent afterwards.

Dh and I attended with caseworker, (incoming) reception teacher and (outgoing) nursery SENCO as he was transitioning to school. We used the recommendations from the SALT and EP reports as the base.

Thanks for the comments.
The SEN officer has finally replied to my emails. She said that the SALT and Ed Psych will be invited to the meeting. I don't know if they will actually attend. The school SENCO and class teacher will be there.

I have been told that I will receive a draft plan before the meeting, and then the meeting will be used to go over the draft and make amendments (of which I am expecting there to be many). I'm hoping to find someone who can review the draft plan in advance for me, alongside the professional reports (both LA and private reports) so that they can guide me on what I should ask for in the meeting. Is there anyone who can do this (without paying the costs of a solicitor. I'm willing to pay, but can't afford solicitor fees)?

I think IPSEA or SOS SEN offer these services but I’m not sure you will have time to engage them before your meeting. When is it?

Contact your local sendiass team and they should be able to help you.

Never heard of going to a meeting post-draft (well my LA doesn’t do that anyway). If there’s something basic that can be ironed out, I guess you could meet with them and ask them to change it, but if there’s something major, just ask them to finalise and then appeal to the Tribunal. You could bring your own therapists, but they should have already provided the reports which inform sections B and F of the EHCP. Definitely give your local IASS a ring - they can often send someone to give you some support. The most important thing to check is that all needs are listed in section B and that all provisions are listed in F. By law, all provisions should be properly quantified and specified as in how often and for how long. Woolly expressions like ‘access to’ ‘opportunities for’ and ‘would benefit from’ should NOT be used in section F as these are meaningless, so challenge these if you see them.