Statutory Assessment - Print version

Education, Health and Care Needs

Most children and young people’s needs will be met by the help available through their school/ early years setting/ college. Coventry is working closely with schools to support children with additional needs through My Support Plan.

My Support Plan allows professionals to work together effectively to identify a child’s needs and in time to consider whether an EHC Needs Assessment is appropriate for them. It allows professionals to evidence the support that is in place and have regular review periods to see if the support is working. Schools will involve parents closely in this process and invite you to regular review meetings of the support being implemented.

However for a very small number of children and young people who need a lot of extra help at school, the Statutory Assessment and Review Service may decide that an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment is required to find out exactly what extra help is needed.

If you would like to talk to someone about your concerns, then please talk to your child's educational setting in the first instance. If you would like further information, then please get in touch with the Statutory Assessment and Review team.

Education, Health and Care Needs assessment

Before a decision can be reached about whether a child/young person does require special educational provision, a careful and detailed assessment is made. This is carried out by a team of professional staff from different services. Parents are considered to be vital members of the team.

What is an Education, Health and Care needs assessment?

An Education, Health and Care needs assessment is a very detailed look at:

• What your child can and cannot do
• The special help he or she may need in order to learn.

When is an Education, Health and Care needs assessment necessary?

An Education, Health and Care needs assessment may be recommended for your child if they do not make progress, despite getting appropriate extra help from their educational setting. If your child's educational setting feel that an assessment is necessary, they will discuss with you the reasons for moving to an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. At this point if you feel it would be beneficial you will be offered a meeting with the school SENCo and the link Education, Health and Care Plan Coordinator from the Local Authority to discuss your child’s additional needs BEFORE a formal request is made to Coventry Local Authority (LA). This is part of Coventry’s person centred Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment Pathway which sets out how we will work with parents, children and young people to enable co-production with families.

An Education, Health and Care needs assessment is sometimes referred to as formal assessment and is carried out by Coventry LA under the 2014 Children and Families Act and in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice 2014. Your child's progress, your views and the views of your child's educational setting or those who work closely with your child will all be considered by Coventry LA before an assessment goes ahead.

Who can make a request for an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment?

Any professional working with a child, young person or family can make a referral to the authority for an Education, Health and Care assessment. It is usual for referrals to come from the child/young person's educational setting.

A parent/young person (over the age of 16) can make a direct request for an Education, Health and Care Assessment. However, we recommend that they speak to the young person's teacher or Special Needs Coordinator (SENCo) first as they will be able to help you.

Asking for an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment

Parents/Carers can ask us to make an education, health and care needs assessment if you feel that your child is falling seriously behind, despite getting extra help from their educational provider. If you decide to make a request directly to us then you will need to write a letter detailing why you believe an assessment is required together with any supporting evidence which outlines your child’s needs. You will need to send the letter and supporting evidence to Statutory Assessment and Review Service, PO Box 15, Council House, Coventry CV1 5RR.

We would suggest that you should always talk to your child's education provider first before asking for an assessment. Coventry Local authority will carefully consider your request and if we feel it is necessary, will carry out the assessment. If we decide that an assessment is not needed, we will write to you and your child's educational provider to explain the reasons for our decision. We will give you details about your right to appeal against the decision to the SEN Tribunal. We will also tell you about the informal disagreement resolution arrangements available through the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/sendiass] and Mediation Services.

What happens after a request for an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment is received?

You can see our handy flowchart for a breakdown of what happens during the process. [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4895/coventry-s-person-centred-co-ordinated-education-health-and-care-planning-assessment-process]

Weeks 1-6

Your request will be considered by a Panel of Professionals to decide if the request meets Coventry’s Criteria for an EHC Assessment (weblink to EHCP Process/criteria to be inserted). Please note that every request is considered on an individual basis but to bring fairness to the process there is a set of local criteria. After the request has been to the Panel you will be contacted by the SEN Team to advise if your request has been agreed. If it has been refused you will be notified of the reasons for refusal together with information about how you can appeal the decision and where you can access impartial information, advice and guidance.

Weeks 6-12

When an EHC Needs Assessment is agreed we will spend the next 6-12 weeks gathering advice from professionals who know your child and any new assessments that are required to inform the outcome of the EHC Needs assessment.

Weeks 12

Once all of the information has been gathered a decision will be made as to whether an Education, Health and Care Plan is required. If following the assessment it is evident that an EHC Plan is not required to meet your child’s needs we will contact you to inform you of the reasons why the decision has been made and offered information as to how your child’s education provider can use the assessments to support your child’s special educational needs. You will also be notified of your right to appeal and offered impartial information, advice and guidance.

Weeks 14-16

An EHC Plan is needed to support your child’s Special educational needs a draft EHC Plan will be developed using the professional advice gathered during the assessment. Once the EHC Plan is drafted a copy will be sent to you with the offer of an opportunity to meet with your link EHC Plan Coordinator to discuss any amendments or additions you would like to be included. It is often useful to meet at this point to co-produce the Outcomes to be included in the EHC Plan. At this point you will also be asked to express a preference for an educational setting. You will have 15 days to respond to the Draft Plan.

Access the draft plan reply slip. [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4396/parentsyoung_people_-_ehc_needs_assessment_process]

Weeks 18-19

Any final amendments will be made to the EHC plan and consultations made with educational setting/s. Educational settings have 15 days to respond.

Week 20

The final EHC Plan will be sent to you with all the appendices (advice reports used to write the plan) naming the educational setting in section I. Copies will also be sent to the Educational setting and professionals that provided advice for the EHC Plan.

Who can support me with an Education Health and Care assessment?

As well as support and information from the EHC Plan co-ordinator at the Local Authority, you can also access support through something called Independent Support. An Independent Supporter can help you navigate through the system and help you to understand what is happening at each stage of the process.

This service is provided by Coventry’s SEND Information Advice and Support Service [/sendiass].

Education, Health and Care Plans

An Education, Health and Care Plan is a legal document which describes your child's difficulties and the special help that is needed to meet those difficulties.

How is an Education, Health and Care Plan produced?

The Local Authority will carefully consider all the information collected during the assessment and we will write a Plan for your child if it is clear that agreed criteria have been met. These criteria broadly cover the level of difficulty shown by the child, and what has been done to address those difficulties.

How does a Plan help us meet the needs of your child?

All mainstream schools are required to contribute the first £6,000 of additional educational support for a pupil from their notional SEN budget. Pupils should only require an Education, Health and Care Plan if they need support above what is ordinarily available. Find out what Coventry expects schools to put in place before a request for an EHCP [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/sendguidance].

Therefore in only the most exceptional circumstances will a Plan be required to provide additional funding to the school.

We will discuss the contents of the Plan with you and the school to agree how best the Plan can describe what special help is needed. We will always begin by trying to meet your child's needs in a mainstream school although in some cases it may be necessary to consider the provision available within specialist provision.

Who can you talk to about Education, Health and Care Plans?

If you would like more information about the arrangements for producing and reviewing Education, Health and Care Plans in Coventry you may wish to talk to your child's educational provider or to the Statutory Assessment Service. You can also ask the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service [https://www.covsendiass.co.uk/] for impartial information and advice.

Mediation/Tribunal

Whilst we will try to ensure that the Education Health and Care needs assessment and/or Plan are co-produced with children, young people and their families, sometimes there may be disagreement for which a solution is difficult to find. In Coventry, we aim to find this solution in one of three ways:

• Informal resolution – this is normally done through the EHC Plan co-ordinator and the family, who can access support from a third-party such as the local SEND IASS.
• Mediation
• First tier SEND Tribunal

Feedback and consultation

The Local Authority is seeking the views of children, young people and/or parents about their experience of the Education Health and Care process, to try to continue to make the process as person-centred, informed and effective as possible. As such, we have devised a short questionnaire [https://letstalk.coventry.gov.uk/coventry-send-local-offer/survey_tools/ehcna-survey] for you to feedback on what you thought went well (or not so well) as you went through the EHC assessment.

It shouldn’t take much more than 10 minutes to complete, and your feedback could be vital to improving the experience for other families in Coventry. If you would like to access the form via a paper format, just contact using either of the methods below.

You are welcome to leave all feedback anonymously if you would like to.