Wow. What a sad and awful situation for Al.
But also yes, @MrsOvertonsWindow this could easily have set a precedent for EHCPs had the judge not reached a sensible conclusion that care under the EHCP had been appropriate.
When I read the link from RegisterRex, para 9 also leapt out at me. The health section of our daughter's EHCP now includes the safeguarding on gender identity exploration (we have a table of needs and provisions, with the provisions then reflected again in the relevant section). I had to fight really hard for this, including lots of pre-work to make sure it was admissible. It has to come from a professional, otherwise it's just a parental opinion, which carries no weight whatsoever when it comes to what the needs and provisions should be. The parental opinion comes in to review whether a school which says it can meet the needs (i.e. provide the provisions) is the right school for the child. That's way down the line as by this point the document is already written. You're allowed a small window to review the document before it becomes finalised but otherwise it's only professional opinion that counts.
Being a looked after child, it's highly unlikely that Al would have anyone advocating and doing all the research first to understand how this could be done. I even had conversations with Transgender Trend to see if there was any precedent. I dug around in other places too but drew a blank every time.
So without that safeguarding there, Al was left to understand their "gender identity" from whatever perspective made sense to Al. It's worth noting that the EHCP only applies in school settings, even though it's a health need. I also use my own version of the safeguarding document (a standalone version, not the whole EHCP) in health settings. Every single time. My daughter doesn't go to any appointment with a new health professional until they've seen and agreed to the safeguarding document. It's not always formal agreement (e.g. CAMHS won't do this - I've got a whole story about that .. it's been a while since I posted that link. If anyone is interested, I can post again) but it's a conversation between the health professional and me. So far, many of the people I've spoken to in the health profession seem very glad to have the conversation.
And lastly... Poor Al. Al is a sad example of the impact of this on looked after children.