Recommendation 10

HM Government · verbatim extract Not Addressed

Education, Health and Care Plans (Paragraphs 53 and 54): WESC recommendation: If the Secretary of State for Education’s power to invoke the “reasonable endeavours” duty in relation to EHC Plans is to remain in place, we recommend the Department for Education update its guidance to local authorities to include the factors which must be considered in deciding how the relaxed duty can best be fulfilled. The guidance should include a set of minimum standards and a range of examples of good practice in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) when resources are stretched by the pandemic. We further recommend that, should flexibilities in EHC Plan duties become necessary again, notices be issued on a local basis only, in direct response to local effects of the pandemic, instead of the blanket, national approach taken earlier this year. We further recommend that guidance to local authorities operating EHC assessments and Plans under reasonable endeavours be updated to state that they should publish information about what this will mean in practice for children and young people with SEND and the minimum level of provision they expect to be able to provide. We believe the time is right for this change of approach. It would be in line with the more local approach to coronavirus-related restrictions since the end of national lockdown and would offer some reassurance to children and young people with SEND and their families that any changes to support will only occur when strictly necessary as a result of the pandemic. 28. The temporary changes to the law were kept under close review during the period that they were in force, to ensure that they could be ceased as soon as they were no longer necessary. Following the expiry of the third modification notice on 31st July, we did not issue a further notice in order to ensure the restoration of support in full for children and young people with EHC plans in advance of their return to school or college in September. 29. To support local authorities, health commissioning bodies and others involved in EHC needs assessment and plan processes to discharge the modified duties, we published guidance on the temporary changes to the law. The guidance was clear that local authorities and health commissioning bodies had not been absolved of their duty to secure or arrange the provision specified in EHC plans and included some illustrative examples of alternative arrangements for delivering provision that it might have been reasonable to put in place. 30. The guidance was also clear that, as the modified duty related to the provision for each individual child and young person, local authorities and health commissioning bodies were not permitted to apply blanket policies about the provision that would be available within their area. Instead, they were required to consider for each individual with an EHC plan what they could reasonably provide in the circumstances during the notice period, based on the needs of and specific circumstances affecting each child or young person. The guidance was clear as to the ongoing importance of coproduction and effective communication with families, both at the strategic level and in relation to individual cases. 31. We do not intend to issue any further notices to modify the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies to secure or arrange the special educational and health care provision specified in EHC plans, unless the evidence changes.