One minute guide: Education, Health and Care Plans

What are Education, Health and Care Plans

An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document for an individual child or young person aged 0–25 years with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which sets out a description of their educational, health and social care needs and the provision that must be implemented in order to help them achieve key life outcomes. It also includes information about the child or young person’s aspirations, and for those in Year 9 or above, information about preparation for adulthood.

EHCPs bring together practitioners from different agencies to contribute to a single assessment and plan for the child or young person. In Leeds, the Special Educational Needs Statutory Assessment and Provision (SENSAP) team is responsible for overseeing all EHCPs and assessments.

How Education, Health and Care Plans are initiated

The majority of children and young people with SEND can have their needs met within their local mainstream school, early years setting, college or training provider through the setting’s existing resources, without the need for an EHCP.

If a setting has taken every possible action available to identify, assess and meet the child or young person’s needs but they are still not making expected progress, it may be appropriate to consider requesting an EHC assessment. Settings can do this through submitting an online form with details of the actions they have taken and support they have offered to the child or young person.

If parents would like to apply for an EHC assessment, SENSAP advises them to speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at their child’s setting first, who will be able to talk to parents about what the assessment involves and offer support and guidance around decision-making.

If a parent or young person wishes to request an EHC assessment themselves, they can complete an EHC2 form (parents) or an EHC3 form (young people). SENSAP would then contact the child’s setting to request additional information.

What an EHC assessment involves

EHC assessments take 20 weeks in total, and in Leeds there are three stages to the assessment process:

The first stage leads up to a decision whether to proceed with an assessment or not, when SENSAP Casework Officers contact the family to discuss the assessment and their desired outcomes. There is a multi-agency panel in place to consider requests to assess, and this meets on a weekly basis. Within six weeks of the request being made, it will be considered by this panel. The panel looks at: whether the child has SEND; whether they may require special educational provision to be outlined in an EHCP; and the support offered by the setting to date. If the panel decision is not to proceed with an assessment, the panel provides advice about how the child can otherwise be supported in meeting their needs.

The second stage is the assessment, when SENSAP will gather information from practitioners involved with the child, young person and family, including an educational psychologist. These practitioners have six weeks to undertake any assessments and submit their advice to the local authority. SENSAP officers will then take the case back to the multi-agency panel to decide whether or not an EHCP is required. If the panel decides that an EHCP is required, SENSAP officers will draft a plan. If the panel decides that an EHCP is not required, the casework officer will contact the child’s family or the young person to explain this decision.

The third stage is finalising the EHC Plan, which will take place by week 20. In most cases, the local authority is able to finalise the EHC plan and send it to the family and the professionals involved fairly quickly. Sometimes, when changes are needed, there may be a period of negotiation regarding the content. As soon as the EHCP is made final, it becomes a legal document and must be upheld.

Once an EHCP is in place, it is reviewed every twelve months—and at least six-monthly for children under statutory school age—by officers within SENSAP.

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