Best Practice

EHCPs: Getting out of the SEN maze

Education, Health and Care Plans are a key part of the new SEN reforms. Legal experts Melinda Nettleton and John Friel tackle some of the myths and outline the responsibilities of both schools and local authorities

Following the arrival of Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) in September 2014, it is reassuring to know that the myth-creation industry remains alive and well.

Incorrect information such as "you can't have an EHCP without a social worker", from a social worker to the parent of a seriously disabled 21-year-old young person. Or "you can't have an EHCP because he doesn't need an education". Others we have heard of include:

This is all misinformation. The legal test is whether provision is "necessary" and the expectation is that all children or young people who would have continued with a Statement will have an EHCP (SEND Code of Practice, Para 9.4 and 2.3, Department for Education (DfE) Statutory Guidance, August 2014).

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