Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and Section F banding

EHCPs are meant to detail, amongst other things, the special educational provision to be delivered to a child or young person included in Section F. We often see EHCPs that also have reference to funding/bands, and sometimes instead of clear special educational provision. This can be a concern to parents, so here are some key points to remember:

• An EHCP is not required to detail funding arrangements in Section F. If a local authority chooses to do so, then this must not be at the expense of detailed special educational provision. If a local authority has its own banding policy for EHCP provisions, then this cannot be applied to dilute their legal duty to deliver the Section F provision
• It is insufficient for the provision to only reference an allocated banding, for example for adult support, rather than detail the specifics of the support.

• Section F provision that is vague and unclear makes it difficult to check if it is being delivered as required. For example, “high level of adult support” vs “1:1 teaching assistant support for 32 hours per week”; the former is open to interpretation, including the number of hours of support (which could vary, meaning costs allocated could do as well), whereas the latter is clear and easier to check if being delivered.

• The school named in Section I of the EHCP will need to deliver what Section F provision they can through their resources, with ultimate responsibility for delivering (and funding) Section F provision resting with the local authority (regardless of the cost).

• It is for the school and local authority to confirm funding arrangements; not for parents to have to be concerned about.

• There can be references to funding for Section F provision if there is an agreed Personal Budget in Section J. This may be, for example, where it is agreed that parents will be allocated a set out of funds to source provision under Section F; these funds still come from the local authority, and must be sufficient to secure the relevant provision.

If in doubt, it is worth seeking specialist legal advice to check the content of Section F and the practical and legal implications to the special educational provision.

The Boyes Turner Education Team can be contacted on senexpertsolicitors@boyesturner.com.