SEND Reform in West
Berkshire
Briefings for parents, schools and
practitioners July 2014
What will be covered
Overview of SEND Reforms and underlying
principles – Jane Seymour
 The new Education Health and Care
assessment process & EHC Plans – Jane
Seymour
 Conversion of existing Statements to EHC Plans
– Nicola Ponton/Tina Norton/Lucy Baker-Smith
 QUESTIONS

The Children & Families Act 2014
Reform of systems and processes for meeting
needs of children with SEN & Disabilities
(SEND) arise from Children & Families Act 2014
 Takes effect 1st September 2014
 Detail is contained in the “SEN & Disability Code
of Practice: 0 to 25 years”, June 2014
 There are also several sets of regulations which
accompany The Children & Families Act

Key principles of SEND Reforms
Child and family at the centre of assessment,
planning, decision making – “person centred”
approaches
 More choice and control for families
 More flexible and creative solutions,
personalised to the individual

Key principles of SEND Reforms
High aspirations for young people with SEND
 Effective collaboration between agencies
 Holistic, joined up planning
 Focus on outcomes including long term life
outcomes

Life outcomes for young people with
SEND
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Paid employment, wherever possible
Living as independently as possible
Optimum physical and mental health
Friends and relationships
Being part of community
Overview of SEND Reforms
School Action & School Action Plus replaced by
one SEN category - SEN Support
 Local Authorities must publish a “Local Offer”
setting out all services available for children with
SEND and their families
 Statementing process replaced by Education
Health and Care Assessments/ EHC Plans
 Families have right to request a Personal Budget
as part of EHC Plan

Overview of SEND Reforms cont.
LAs have responsibility for young people with
SEND up to age 25 – FE Colleges come within
same legislation as schools
 Young people with SEND over compulsory
school age have legal rights previously held by
parents
 Information, advice & guidance services (Parent
Partnership) must be offered to children with
SEND as well as their parents

Overview of SEND Reforms cont.
Information, advice & guidance services must
cover health and social care as well as SEN
 Children and young people must be offered
advocacy service where needed
 Increased requirements on LAs to offer
disagreement resolution and mediation services
 More joint commissioning of services across
education, social care and health
 QUESTIONS???

EHC Assessment Process
A new process for EHC Assessments has been
developed with parents, schools and other
agencies
 This will replace the statementing process from
1st September 2014
 The criteria for EHC Assessment are essentially
same as for statementing
 Process will be led by EHC Assessment
Coordinators (3 new appointments)

EHC Assessment Process – how will
it be different?
Much more involvement of child and parents
throughout whole process
 Holistic assessment and plan – covering
education, health and care needs and provision
 EHC Plan will look and feel very different from a
Statement – more accessible and user friendly
 Must be completed in 20 weeks (currently 26)

EHC Assessment Process
Parent / school requests EHC Assessment
 Parent is sent “We want to tell you…” pack and
offered support to complete
 Covers 6 areas: communication, learning,
behaviour & emotions, health, everyday life,
family & community
 Information requested from school (if not a
school request)
 Decision re whether EHC Assessment needed

EHC Assessment Process
If decision is not to proceed, SEN
Manager/Assistant Manager meets family with
school and other professionals to plan support
 If EHC assessment agreed, Assessment
Coordinator allocated to family
 Assessment Coordinator meets family and
reviews “We want to tell you…” document to
ensure child and parents’ views fully
represented, including desired outcomes

EHC Assessment Process
Assessment Coordinator agrees with family what
assessments are needed by which professionals
 Professional reports requested – 6 week
timescale
 Assessment Coordinator ensures all
professionals providing reports liaise with one
another to avoid duplication and do joint visits /
assessments where appropriate

EHC Assessment Process
Assessments are completed
 Assessment Coordinator discusses reports with
parents and offers meeting if needed
 EHC Panel considers reports and allocates
indicative budgets
 EHC Planning meeting held involving family,
school & other professionals - chaired by EHC
Assessment Coordinator
 Assessment Coordinator drafts EHC Plan

EHC Assessment Process
Draft EHC Plan issued, including any direct
payments if requested / agreed
 Draft EHC Plan must be issued within 16 weeks
of EHC request (no school named at this stage)
 Further discussion with parents if needed
 Final EHC Plan issued (with school named)
 Whole process must be completed within 20
weeks

Personal Budgets
A “personal budget” is the total resource spent
on a young person, some of which may be given
as a “direct payment” (cash)
 Families will be able to request a direct payment
for the education, health and/or care aspects of
the EHC Plan
 Direct payments are already given in some
cases for families to purchase social care
provision (children’s and adults’ services)

Personal budgets
Criteria for SEN direct payments are being
developed – requests will be considered case by
case
 Health are also developing processes for health
Personal Budgets / Direct Payments – will only
apply to children who meet Continuing
Healthcare Criteria

EHC Plan
“Xxxxxx’s Plan” + photo (if child / parents wish)
 Contents page
 One page profile at beginning – what others like
about me/ what is important to me/ how best to
support me/ my hopes for the future
 Strengths, difficulties & desired outcomes –
communication, learning, behaviour & emotions,
health, everyday life, family & community (in
table format)

EHC Plan
Area of need
1. Communication
2. Learning &
Development
3. Behaviour and
emotions
4. Health
5. Everyday life
6. Family &
Community
Strengths
Difficulties
Outcomes
EHC Plan
Outcome
What needs to
happen
(provision)
Quantity,
frequency,
duration
Who is
responsible
Start date
EHC Plan
Name of educational placement
 Type of placement
 EHC Funding including any Direct Payments
 Review arrangements
 Signature
 Appendices

EHC Plans
Will specify health and social care provision as
well as SEN provision
 Only SEN provision is subject to appeal to SEN
Tribunal
 Parents must consider mediation before going to
Tribunal
 Parents can go to mediation about health and
care aspects of EHC Plan or follow normal
complaint processes if in disagreement

Reviews of EHC Plans
Will be subject to Annual Reviews which will be
carried out by schools on behalf of Local
Authority (as now)
 Annual Reviews of EHC Plans from Year 9 must
consider transition to adulthood
 Young person can have an EHC Plan in FE
College, (or apprenticeship or traineeship) but
not in Higher Education
 QUESTIONS???
