How we create an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for your child

Once we have received your request for an assessment, the Education Health Care Needs Assessment Process will begin, and this is split into three stages.

Step one: Initial assessment (weeks 0-6)

The local authority receives the request for an Education Health Care Needs Assessment from the education setting or parents. The proposal and supporting documents are submitted to the decision-making panel, where a decision is taken in line with the legal test.

Whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (SEN)
Whether they may need special educational needs provision to be made through an EHC plan.

If the decision is yes, parents will be informed within the 6-week window and the child's or young person's case will be allocated to an educational psychologist to carry out an assessment., If the decision is made not to proceed to an EHC assessment, the parent or young person will be informed by letter and phone call. If the proposal to start an EHC assessment is declined, the parent/young person has the right to appeal through the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Information about this procedure will be contained within the letter.

Step two: Gathering advice (week 6-16)

If an EHC assessment is agreed upon, the 0-25 SEND Team will send out relevant paperwork to agencies to request any further reports, including advice from educational psychology, school, health, Social Care and family/young people. On receipt of all of the advice, the Decision to Issue panel will review all documents in line with the Children and Families Act 2014 to identify whether an EHCP will be created and issued. If the panel agrees to issue and draft an EHCP, an EHCP officer will be allocated, and a draft should be issued by week 16. If the decision is a no to issue, a phone call and letter will be sent, giving the family their right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Information about this procedure will be contained within the letter.

Step three: Finalising the EHC Plan (week 16-20)

The final stage of confirming the EHC Plan is the parents'/young person's agreement to the plan. The family/young person have 15 calendar days from the draft EHC plan being sent to them to contact the 0-25 SEND Team with their agreement to the plan or to propose any changes they would like made to the draft EHC plan. If parents request amendments or changes that are agreed, they will be completed at this time. The aim is to issue a finalised EHC plan by week 20. The final EHC plan will be sent to all the professionals involved who have contributed to give clarity on what their service has agreed to deliver. A copy of the EHC Plan will also be sent to Social Care and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), if relevant. Social care provision must comply with the Children's Act 1989 or, for young people over 18, the Care Act 2014. The CCG must ensure that the specified health provision is made.

Plymouth City Council will provide the top-up funding for the support identified in the EHC Plan.

The EHC Plan will be reviewed annually, with the initial review within 12 months of the date when the EHC Plan was finalised.

Links to external websites

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Plymouth's Local Offer is organised into four main categories covering the following age ranges:

Plymouth Local Offer homepage

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