Unhappy with an Education, Health and Care Plan decision

You can request the Tribunal makes recommendations about the health and/or social care aspects of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans as part of an appeal relating to:

• the description of the child/young person’s special educational needs in an EHC plan
• the special educational provision specified in an EHC plan
• the school or other educational institution named in an EHC plan
• a decision by the local authority not to issue an EHC plan
• a decision by the local authority not to carry out a re-assessment for a child/young person who has an EHC plan
• a decision by the local authority not to amend an EHC plan following a review or re-assessment
• a decision by the local authority to cease to maintain an EHC plan

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Tribunal and local areas

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Tribunal extended powers places responsibility on local authority SEND teams to:

1. inform parents and young people of their new rights through decision letters and the local offer
2. provide evidence to the Tribunal from the health and social care bodies in response to any issues raised within the time limit set by the Tribunal, seeking permission to bring additional witnesses to the hearing as necessary

It also places responsibility on health and social care commissioners to:

1. respond to any request for information and evidence within the time limit set by the Tribunal
2. send a witness to attend the hearing as needed
3. respond to the parent/young person and the Local Authority SEND team within 5 weeks of a recommendation being made, setting out the steps they have decided to take or giving reasons why they are not going to follow the recommendation

Request a health or social care recommendation

If you wish to appeal against a local authority decision on any of the grounds above and want to request that the Tribunal considers your concerns about the health and /or social care aspects of the EHC plan, you should follow the process for bringing an appeal to the Tribunal and tick the box on the form relating to a health and/or social care appeal. Advice on making SEND appeals to the Tribunal and the appeal form is available online and further guidance can be found in the toolkit of support.