ANNUAL & PHASED TRANSFER REVIEWS OF AN EHCP
PHASED TRANSFER
ANNUAL REVIEWS
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) MUST be reviewed every 12 months. 6 months for early years (Under 5 years of age)
(Interim / Early AR’s can be requested if there is a risk of school placement, or concerns that the provisions in the EHCP are not meeting the needs of the Child / Young Person, the same process applies)
The Annual Review is usually held at the education setting of the child or young person.
Everyone who is involved with the Child / Young Person, such as Speech and language (SALT), Occupational Therapy (OT), Education Psychologist (EP), paediatrician, CAMHS etc should be invited to attend, or provide written reports.
The SENDCO of the education setting, MUST send the invitations at least 2 weeks before the date of the meeting.
The foundation the Annual Review is to review the impact of the provision detailed in section F for the child or young person’s progress.
You may want the school to clarify what progress is being made both academically and towards the EHCP outcomes.
This should be evidence based- it is not enough just to say that progress is being made- how do they know etc.
A good question is always to ask if they consider this progress satisfactory and again what their evidence base/reasoning is to support their answer.
In principle if progress is not satisfactory then it would follow there is an aspect wrong or missing in provision and section F.
You may wish to ask the school if all of Section F is being delivered and there may be specific provision where you ask how it is being implemented. You can ask the school if there is provision being provided that isn’t in section F of the EHCP, and also what provision they feel is missing.
If there is not satisfactory progress being made but no answers are forthcoming on provision that can be added or changed perhaps further advice needs to be sought from specialist such as Educational Psychologist, outreach or therapists.
All paperwork with suggested amendments with written reports, from the meeting must be sent to the allocated SEND Officer, and all who attended the AR or submitted reports, without delay.
The young person and/or parents must be informed of the decision to amend, maintain unchanged or cease an EHCP within 4 weeks of the meeting.
When the LA agree to amend the EHCP it must send you a copy of the EHCP, together with a notice specifying the proposed amendments – in Central Bedfordshire, they call this an amendment notice. The LA must also send any evidence which supports those amendments.
The Young person/parent has 15 calendar days to comment and make any representations on the proposed changes, including requesting a particular nursery/school/college to be named in the EHCP.
The Young person/parent can also request a meeting with the LA to discuss their views at this time.
Be aware that an amendment notice will leave section I- placement blank. A school/college will only be named on a final EHCP.
A finalised plan must be issued within 8 weeks of the first amendment notice being issued.
It should include a letter giving the rights to appeal. It is important to download and save the letter, the EHCP and the supporting documents.
If your child or young person attends a school or other institution this is done by the head teacher/principal or SENDCo.
In all other circumstances, the LA is responsible for obtaining and circulating this information.
THE ANNUAL REVIEW PROCESS IN SHORT IS....
- getting up-to-date information about the child or the young person,
- sending out this information before a review meeting, with an invitation to attend,
- holding a review meeting to consider what:
- progress the child or young person has made towards achieving the outcomes specified in the EHC plan, and
- if they are in year 9 or above, what provision is needed to help them prepare for adulthood and independent living.
- a report saying what changes might be required to the EHCP (and any differences of opinion), and
- notice of a decision from the LA.
The LA must say whether it will:
- maintain the EHCP as it is,
- maintain the EHCP with changes to it (and what these are), or
- stop maintaining the EHCP (following consultation).
Each of these decisions can be appealed in the SEND Tribunal.
ANNUAL REVIEW TIMESCALES
At least 2 weeks before the meeting
Invitation to attend the annual review meeting
- parent or young person.
- early years provider, headteacher or principal.
- LA officer (education).
- health care professional.
- LA officer (social care).
Other individuals relevant to the review should also be invited (e.g. youth offending teams, job coaches).
(Although these people must be invited to attend, attendance is not compulsory. However, where the child or young person attends a school/other institution, the Code considers that reviews are most effective where the educational establishment leads the review. If you have received less than two weeks’ notice of the meeting date, you should consider asking to postpone the meeting so the procedure can be carried out properly.)
At least two weeks before the meeting
Obtain information and advice from all invitees and circulate to all invitees
The information and advice should provide details about the child or young person’s progress and their access to teaching and learning and consider whether the special educational provision currently being made is effective.
Parents, young people or professionals can make suggestions about changes that should be made to the EHCP.
Having this information and advice gathered before the meeting is crucial where amendments to the EHCP are sought and is one of the stages most often omitted or not properly complied with.
The Annual Review Meeting
Prepare your own notes for the review meeting and set out what you think needs to change, so you can be sure everything you want to discuss is covered.
It is important that a record of what was discussed and/or agreed at this meeting is kept. Parents or young people can take someone with them to support them. IASS can attend meetings with parents/young people.
Consider your child or young person’s progress towards outcomes and whether the outcomes remain appropriate for your child or young person.
The outcomes may require changing.
If they have been achieved, or if they need to be changed, the LA should amend the EHCP with new outcomes.
Within two weeks of the annual review meeting
School to send out the paperwork
Setting out:
- the recommendations on any amendments to be made to the EHCP
- any difference between those recommendations and recommendations of others attending the meeting.
- all the information and advice obtained about the child or young person.
Parents or the young person must be sent a copy of this.
Remember, if you think something is incorrect or is missing from this report, you can contact the LA to notify them.
Within both 12 months of the last annual review and four weeks of the review meeting
LA decides whether to...
- maintain the EHCP in its current form
- amend it
- cease to maintain it
LAs have a deadline by which they must make a decision. It’s very important to make a note of this deadline.
If the LA fails to keep to this deadline, they are in breach of the law, and you can make a complaint
With the notice of decision
LA decides to keep the EHC plan the same or cease to maintain it
If the decision is to keep the EHCP the same or to cease to maintain it, the LA must also provide...
- notice of their right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) (the “SEND Tribunal”) and the time limits for doing so
- information about mediation.
- information about the availability of disagreement resolution services and information and advice about matters relating to the SEN of children and young people.
Usually LAs will give reasons for their decision but, if this is not provided, you can ask for their reasons.
With the notice of decision
The LA decides to amend the EHCP
If the decision is to amend the EHCP, the LA must send a copy of the EHCP to the parents or young person with notice of proposed amendments and include any evidence supporting the amendments.
They must also inform the parent/young person of their rights to make representations about the content of the EHCP and to request a particular school/institution.
Parents/young person can make representations about the content of the EHCP and/or the proposed amendments, request that a particular school/institution is named, and request a meeting with their SEND officer.
The Code says at para 9.176, “If the plan needs to be amended, the local authority should start the process of amendment without delay”.
If the LA fails to send you the decision notice and proposed amendments within four weeks of the review meeting, they are in breach of the law, and you can make a complaint.
Within 8 weeks from the date of the decision letter and proposed amendments
The LA must issue the final EHCP
The Code requires the LA to be that it is an amended EHCP, the date it was amended and the date of the original plan. The minutes of the review and other information and advice obtained should be appended to the amended plan.
If the LA fails to keep to this deadline, they are in breach of the law and you can make a complaint
With the final EHCP