Parent's Question:
Three months ago we had the EHCP review meeting for our son (Year 1, ASD, mainstream school).
On the last day of last term we were given the review forms to sign by our SENCO to return to LA. We were told at that point that the school would be requesting more LA funding and noted the review form had new wording subsequently added, which is :
"The school will seek to request full funding for 32.5, as this is the provision that ****** requires in order to enable him to make progress in a mainstream setting (costing and provision details attached)."
Consequently, we asked if we please could have another meeting with school regards this, which we hope to do soon.
Please can you advise: 1. Is this additional wording something we should be wary about signing we agreed to? (We strongly feel his needs are currently best met at current school . We would like the school to get as much as funding as possible, but this wasn’t discussed at review meeting, and we are concerned it might sound like the school is constructing that he can't progress without the added funding. 2. What happens regards how long this has taken to return the EHCP review form to the LA? (It is now three months since review meeting.)
Many thanks for your advice.
IPSEA answers:
In order to fully address the concerns in this question, we have broken down each query:
- The wording from the school
First a question. Is it already specified in Section F of the EHC Plan that your son must have 32.5 hours of individual learning assistant support each week? If not, what the school is in effect requesting is that the EHC Plan is amended to specify this provision. At this time it only a request, it is therefore not agreed by the LA.
A review of an EHC plan can make amendments to a plan if agreed and signed by both parties. If the provision is agreed the Local Authority must provide what is specified. How the provision is funded is a matter between the school and the LA. (under section 42 of Children and Families Act 2014).
If your child needs the provision (and couldn’t progress without it) then this should definitely be in EHC plan anyway – once it is in the plan, then funding follows.
- Attendance at your chosen school
The EHC plan will specify the school at section I – if the school your son is attending is the stated school, then the LA must continue to fund the provision in this school.
- Potential delay and length of time since the review meeting
You don’t say what type of review this was - an annual review of the EHC Plan or a transition review as part of moving from a statement over to an EHC plan. The timescales would depend upon the nature of the review.
If this is an Annual Review the LA must decide on what it is doing (leaving it the same, ceasing plan or making amendments) and notify within four weeks of review meeting in accordance with the SEN Regulations (20(10)).
If this is a transfer to an EHC plan then the timescales are that the LA must issue a finalised EHC plan within 18 weeks of the date when it notified the parent they were doing the EHC needs assessment as part of the transfer: Transitional Regulations (21(3))
You need to go back to the LA and ask them to confirm their decision following the review and confirm whether they have accepted the school’s recommendations that your son needs 32.5 hours of individual support each week. Once you receive the decision letter, if you do not agree with what the LA has decided you will have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
