Education, health and care plans (EHCP)

Section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014 provides that when a request for an EHC needs assessment for a child or young person is made, we must determine if:

• the child or young person has (or may have) special educational needs, and
• it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan

When making a decision, we will contact the child’s parent or the young person after receiving a request and inform the parent or young person that they have the right to give their views to the authority (verbally or in writing) and give evidence during the assessment.

Before deciding if a child or young person should have an EHC needs assessment, we need to consider:

• if a child or young person has or may have SEN
• if a child or young person may need support for SEN through an EHC plan

As part of this process, evidence will be collected to show:

• what SEN support a child or young person has already received from their education provider
• how the child or young person responded to SEN support

Within 6 weeks of receiving a request, we will inform parents, carers, or young people whether or not an EHC assessment will be carried out.

One result of the assessment may be that we do not think an EHC plan is necessary to support a child or young person.

We tell parents, carers, or young people within 16 weeks of getting the original request if this is the case.