Education Health and Care Plans

Education Health and Care (EHC) plans are replacing Statements of Special Educational Needs and Learning Difficulties Assessments.

Our glossary explains some of the terms and abbreviations used in EHC plans and the Local Offer: PDFGlossary of terms [PDF 95KB]

The EHC plan

The EHC plan allows for different services to work together. It identifies the best way to meet the needs of children or young people.

The plans detail the child or young person's story in relation to their education, health and care needs. It is a positive document highlighting the child or young person's strengths and abilities, and should be read with the overview which provides guidance on the various sections of the plan:

The plan is developed with children, young people and their families, and can support young people potentially up to the age of 25 if they have educational outcomes to achieve.

Two new animations for parents are available to view. They help to explain the EHCP process and it’s important relationship with the Person Centred Connection and can be viewed here:  EHCP process animations

An EHC Plan is reviewed every 12 months (or six monthly if your child is under five years old) based around an annual review meeting. The review will:

  • involve the child/young person, parents/carers, the setting/school and any other agencies involved (e.g. Family Support worker, health worker, careers adviser)
  • discuss progress towards the outcomes and will check that the  resources identified in the Plan are still relevant and make recommendations to the authority SEN Team for amendments, if required
  • set new short term outcomes for the following year, based on the Plan
  • focus on preparing young people for life as an independent adult from Year 9 onwards

Settings/schools are responsible for:

  • co-ordinating the annual review meeting
  • ensuring all involved are invited
  • preparing the review documentation in advance

Children/young people and parents/carers will always be asked to contribute a ‘report’ by the school before the meeting. The setting/school will circulate all review documentation two weeks in advance of the meeting, allowing all involved to properly prepare for the meeting.  Review meetings are co-ordinated and facilitated by the setting/school and should be structured to allow all involved to contribute. It is expected that all children/young people will take part in a meaningful fashion, usually attending the meeting in some form. 

At the meeting actions and recommendations are outlined and included in final review documentation by the setting/school and forwarded to the authority SEN Team. The SEN Team will then conclude the annual review process and inform parents/young people of any proposed changes to the EHC Plan.

Settings/schools will importantly also regularly review progress against agreed actions and outcomes through termly meetings in the setting/school allowing all involved to work together in partnership.

You can find out more about the Annual Review guidance for Education, Health and Social Care plans in the Council for Disabled Children’s documents available here:   Annual review guidance for EHC Plans

For further information on the EHC Plan Annual Review process please contact the;

Parents and young people can also contact SENDIASS for support around the EHC Plan annual review process.

Youth Custody

There is a plan in place for children and young people aged 18 or under, who have been detained in youth custody. This is a statutory requirement from April 2015. The plan includes contact details and frequently asked questions on pages 5 and 6:

Education Health and Care transfer plan

As a result of the changes in law, all existing Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) must end by 1 April 2018.

Any special educational provision provided to a young person through an existing Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA)/Section 139a Assessment must end by 1 September 2016.

Before these dates, the Local Authority must hold a transfer review of every Statement of SEN and LDA/139a (if the young person stays in education after 1 September 2016) and transfer these to an EHC plan where one is needed. All existing statements will continue to have legal force until they are transferred over to a new EHC plan.

The EHC plan has been developed following guidance from the Department for Education in conjunction with parents / carers, partners, schools and local Further Education providers.

It will be a gradual process taking place at key transition points. All young people and parents / carers of children with Statements will be notified when their transfer review is to take place by 1 October 2017.

The team has already transferred 350 statements to EHCs within phase 1 of the plan. Feedback received through a survey showed that 98% of parents felt that the process of transfer to an EHC or initial needs assessment was either good or excellent.

Calderdale's plan sets out our timescales and approach to the transfer process and contains flowcharts and frequently asked questions. The plan will be reviewed and updated every year: PDFEHC transfer plan [PDF 204KB] .

Moving out of / into Calderdale

If you are moving to another local authority, the SEN team will transfer your EHC plan to the new local authority.

The new authority will be responsible for managing the EHC plan and for securing the special educational provision it details. They must also review the plan before one of two deadlines whichever is the latter:

  • within 12 months of the plan being made, or being previously reviewed by Calderdale Council, or
  • within 3 months of the plan being transferred.

If you are moving into Calderdale, your current local authority SEN team will transfer your EHC plan to Calderdale Council, who will be responsible for managing your plan, and securing the special educational provision it details.

Full details on either process can be found in the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years (page 192, paragraphs 9.157 to 9.162). For more information, please contact the SEN team.

Personal budgets

All families whose child has an EHC plan will have a right to request a personal budget. A Personal Budget is a sum of money that may be available for children and young people who need extra help, above that available to most children and young people through universal and targeted services.

Parents or young people will be given a choice of whether they want to take control of the personal budget by an agency managing the funds on their behalf or by receiving direct payments, where they can purchase and manage the provision themselves, or by using a combination of both approaches. Page 25 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability: a guide for parents and carers, from the Department for Education, provides more detail: SEND: guide for parents and carers.

For more information on how the decision process works:

SEND Information Advice and Support Service or Calderdale Parents and Carers can help you with the process: Support for parents, carers and young people

Personal health budgets

Anyone receiving NHS continuing healthcare has the right to a personal health budget. This is an amount of money to support a person's identified health and wellbeing needs, planned and agreed between the person and their local NHS team. It will give people with long-term conditions and disabilities a greater choice, flexibility and control over the healthcare and support they receive, see: Personal Health Budgets .

Resolving disagreements

Parents and young people have the opportunity to go to mediation before they can register an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal.

Wherever possible Calderdale Council and / or Health Commissioners will try and resolve issues or areas of disagreement by meeting and talking with those involved in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and / or disabilities. This includes not only the parents and carers, but also the children and young people themselves.

It isn't always possible to reach a resolution without the help of a neutral third party. Mediation services are available in Calderdale and are delivered by Collis Mediation. They offer a variety of effective mediation services for people in dispute using trained and experienced mediators. They work hard to make sure that the parties are as comfortable as possible during the process and that final agreements meet the needs of both parties.

For further information, contact: the SEN team .

Advocacy support

Young people over compulsory school age have new rights. Where there is a conflict of interests between the young person and the parent(s) during assessments / reviews of Education Health and Care plans, it is the view of the young person that prevails. Some young people will require the support of a skilled advocate to ensure their views are heard and acknowledged.

In Calderdale advocacy support is provided by the The Children's Rights, Advocacy and Visitor Service, or the Independent Support Coordinators who are part of the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service, see Getting independent advice .

The Children's Rights, Advocacy and Visitor Service

This service provides advocacy support for young people, who are over compulsory school age, during the assessment and / or review process for an Education Health and Care plan.

If you are a young person, advocacy can support you if you feel that people are making decisions about you without listening to what you have to say.

Advocacy can:

  • help your voice be heard
  • make sure that you are being treated fairly
  • support you in meetings
  • support you to have your say about things that affect you
  • help you understand what is happening and why
  • help you make a complaint
  • help you speak out for yourself.

For further information, please contact the team:

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