Education Law Case Study: Persuading local authority to amend Education Health Care Plan without going to Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

Who did we act for?

We were instructed by Simone’s parents, who lived on the edge of the M25. Simone is a child who has Special Educational Needs and consequently requires an Education Health Care Plan (“EHCP”).

What was the case about?

Following an Education Health Care Needs Assessment, an EHCP was issued for Simone. This plan identified Simone having difficulties with cognitive processing, dyslexia and ADHD, resulting in recommendations for 1:1 support.

The Local Authority had named a mainstream school in Section I of the EHCP, which was highly inappropriate for Simone. The mainstream school had clearly stated that it did not wish to be named and could not meet Simone’s needs. The parents preferred a special school which had confirmed that they could meet Simone’s needs.

The parents complained to the local authority and urged it to reconsider naming their preferred special school in the EHCP.  Unfortunately, due to the delay by the local authority to deal with the complaint, the parents missed the deadline to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND) against the local authority’s decision to name the mainstream school in the EHCP.

The local authority essentially argued that it would cost too much to send Simone to the special school and was not therefore an efficient use of the council’s resources.

What did we do?

We met with the parents and reviewed all their papers. We advised them of their legal rights, how we could help them and Simone. We advised what action could be taken to pursue their preference of the special school, rather than the local authority’s proposal of a mainstream school.

With our experience of special educational needs law and our knowledge of education health and care plans, we spotted an opportunity to argue the EHCP should be changed to reflect the parents’ wishes. As a consequence, we were able to recommend a strategy to the parents to argue that the local authority should name their preferred school and that, if they didn’t, the parents could appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, against the school named in the EHCP.

We armed Simone’s parents with all the necessary information about the EHCP process. If the local authority continued to name the mainstream school in the EHCP, we recommend the parents appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

What was the outcome?

As a result of the preparatory work we carried out for Simone’s parents, they were successful in their argument with the Local Authority, which agreed to amend the EHCP to name the special school. Our advice and expertise in this area provided the parents with the knowledge and, more importantly, the confidence to keep going back to the local authority, questioning their refusal to amend the ECHP and name the special school.  Simone has now been afforded the opportunity to attend a school which meets her needs; an outcome with which the parents are delighted.