A Reminder on Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) Transition Reviews

A reminder that:

• The 15 February marked the legal deadline for local authorities to issue EHCPs naming secondary school type (as a minimum) in Section I:

• This will describe the type of school that your child will attend from September in Year 7. This could be a maintained mainstream, or special school, a non-maintained or independent special school, as examples.
• Ideally, a school setting will also be named in Section I.

• To have this secondary EHCP, there must have been a transition review beforehand.

• If a LA has not issued your secondary EHCP by the 15 February, then parents can raise with this with the LA via a complaint, or potentially Judicial Review.

• Once you have the local authority’s decision letter and secondary EHCP, parents will be given a right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal.

• The SEND Tribunal aims to give transition appeals (to decide on secondary placement) priority. This should mean securing a final hearing date before the autumn term, but there is no guarantee. This could result in the child being out of a placement entirely and/or a delayed start to school. We recommend seeking specialist legal advice on your options here.

• Many will find is strange that the law allows local authorities to finalise EHCPs naming a type of setting only i.e. not name an actual placement.  The expectation is that a placement will be found before the start of the new academic year and the lack of a named placement and a request for a specific placement can be resolved through an appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

For more information about how the Special Educational Needs team at Boyes Turner can help you with a Transition Appeals and enquires if you have/have not received your secondary EHCP, please email them at senexpertsolicitors@boyesturner.com or call on 0118 467 6547.