What a Good Education, Health and Care Plan Should Look Like

Be Detailed and Specific

Unfortunately, EHC plans often include provision in Section F that isn’t specific or detailed enough. Provision to meet the Special Educational Needs should be specific and detailed in Section F of the EHC plan, so it’s clear exactly what is being provided and where appropriate, by who and how often, to meet all the needs identified.

This is essential because the whole point of EHCPs is to specify exactly what support the child with SEND needs, and how these support needs will be met. Without this plan in place, and without it being detailed and specific throughout, it can cause confusion and can lead to children and young people not getting the support they need.EHC plans are put in place when a child or young person is identified as having additional needs and requiring support. When the support is not given correctly, this can put the child’s wellbeing, mental and physical health and development at risk.

That’s why it’s important that the EHC plans put in place by Local Authorities are as detailed and specific as they can be.

In a good EHC plan, Section F will be specified and detailed so it’s clear what provision the child/young person receives. If they don’t receive the provision detailed, a good EHC plan will assist in a legal challenge against this.

We’ve also seen EHC plans being issued wrongly, including educational needs in the description of health needs (Section C) and the provision to meet the need set out as health provision (Section G). An example of this is speech and language difficulties/provision, as the Courts have previously established speech and language therapy is an educational need and not a health need. A good EHC plan should therefore have this included in Sections B and F, to give parents a better level of legal protection to challenge it if it isn’t provided.

Name a Suitable School

EHC Plans should also include the type and name of the school that is suitable to meet the child/young person’s needs. This can be mainstream or specialist and this should depend on the needs of the individual child.

What makes a good EHC plan varies for each child/young person depending on their individual needs. We recommend that legal advice is sought from an Education Law specialist whenever an EHC plan is received, so that specific legal advice can be given and assistance can be provided with any required appeal to challenge the contents of an EHCP if you need to.

Get in Touch

If your child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities has been given an EHC plan and you don’t think it’s good enough, or you don’t think it’s quite right, you can get in touch with our Education and SEND teams here at Simpson Millar.

We can answer any questions you may have about the EHC plan your child has been given.

We’re always friendly and approachable and understand how stressful these things can be, especially because it’s about you doing what’s best for your child . We know how difficult this side of the law can feel, too, especially when you’ve got so many other things to be thinking about, in particular looking after your child or children. For that reason, we’re always here to explain what’s going on at all stages of the process, meaning you won’t have to chase up the progress of your case.

In addition, we understand how important it is to you that your child gets the support and care they require, based on their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. If your child with SEND doesn’t have the right EHC plan in place, they might be monitored and checked up on less, which could lead to their wellbeing deteriorating without anyone realising.

That’s why we’ll always try our best to understand you and your child’s story and their exact needs, so that we truly know what your child requires and what should be in their EHC plans.

Once we have the knowledge, information and evidence we need – which we will get from working hard alongside you and guiding you along the way – we will fight your corner and work towards getting your child the support and plan that they need to thrive.