A closer look at the SEND review Green Paper and consultation: Question 4, EHC plans

3 mins read

Monday 13 June 2022

Tags: SEND review, SEND REview consultation, SEND Review Green Paper

A couple of weeks ago we looked at question 1 of the SEND review consultation to help you tell the government what you think about its plans for the SEND system in England. This week we take a more in-depth look at question 4 in chapter 2 of the government’s consultation which is about its proposals for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

An EHC plan is a legal document that describes your child’s special educational, health and social care needs. It explains the extra help that will meet those needs and how that help will support the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. The governments SEND Review Green paper proposes that there should be a new standardised and digitised EHCP process and template to minimise bureaucracy and deliver consistency.

A standard EHC Plan could help make meeting a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs a smoother process. Digitising EHC plans may also help cut down on environmentally un-friendly paperwork and make it easier for specialist schools and colleges who work with a number of Local Authorities, each of which has their own EHC plan format.

Question 4  of the SEND Review Green Paper consultation asks:

“What components of the EHCP should we consider reviewing or amending as we move to a standardised and digitised version?” To answer this question, you might like to think about:

  • Whether you think a standard format for your child’s EHC plan is a good idea or not?
  • If a standard format would help or hinder the description of your child as a person, their full range of needs and the provision and support they need?
  • How the sections of the EHC plan should be arranged. For example, should Education Health and Social Care sections be kept as separate sections or should they be combined in some way?
  • Are there any sections that you think should definitely stay or any that you think aren’t essential or currently don’t make sense?
  • Do you think that EHC plans should be digital only? What are the advantages or disadvantages to this?

This question also gives you an opportunity to tell the government more about what you think about EHC plans such as:

If you think there should be specific standards for reports for EHC needs assessments including social care?

If there should be a national standard for the annual review process?

Whether there be a requirement to discuss ceasing the plan at every review?

What the timescales should be for issuing a draft amended plan following an annual review?

Read more about the SEND Green Paper Review on our webpage.

The government has now opened a public consultation on the proposals set out in the green paper.

You have until the 22 July to have your say by responding to the consultation. There are 22 questions in the SEND Review green paper consultation, and you can respond to as many or as few of these as you like – so don’t worry if you can’t complete all 22 questions.