National Consultation Opportunities
29th June 2022
Education Health and Care plans
The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the actions that a local authority should have to take if it proposes to amend an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan following a review meeting.
They believe that the principal audiences for the consultation paper will be:
children and young people with EHC plans and their families
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organisations representing children and young people with SEND and their families
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LA SEND officers
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any early years setting, school, college or other setting attended by children or young people with an EHC plan
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educational psychologists, health professionals, social care professionals and others involved in the review of EHC plans
Some of the key points relating to the consultation are set out below.
Detail of the consultation
Local authorities have various duties over when and how they must review an individual’s Education, Health and Care plan. In the SEND and AP Review Green Paper DfE said that they intended to change the timescale for the issuing of proposals for amending plans following annual reviews. The consultation is available at
Reviews of Education, Health and Care plans: proposed timescales - Department for Education - Citizen Space.
DfE are consulting on whether local authorities should:
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have an additional four weeks after review meetings to finalise any changes they propose to a plan. (A March 2022 High Court judgment has clarified that the current duty on LAs is to do this within four weeks of the review meeting); and
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have to circulate material for a review meeting a week earlier than currently.
They believe that these proposals will benefit children, young people and their families, at the same time as delivering a more workable process.
The consultation closes on 12 August.
OFSTED AND CQC LAUNCH CONSULTATION ON SEND INSPECTIONS
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have launched a consultation on a new joint framework for inspecting provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The new framework will look at outcomes for children with SEND, according to the consultation document.
The new framework is aimed at broadening inspections to examine whether local area partnerships are identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, but also to assess the impact on their lives and outcomes, according to the inspectorates.
The new framework will focus on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, including those in alternative provision (AP).
Local authorities will be evaluated on how they commission, use and oversee such settings, according to the consultation document.
Other key areas included in the new framework are:
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Introducing an ongoing cycle of inspections and three distinct inspection outcomes.
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Carrying out engagement meetings in all areas.
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Strengthening Ofsted’s response where there are concerns through monitoring inspections and/or early re-inspections.
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Promoting continuous improvement for all by requesting visible action plans following full inspections.
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A greater push to gather evidence from children and young people with SEND and their families directly, as well as from area leaders, practitioners, and settings.
Under the new framework, inspection teams will include inspectors from education, health and care “so that there can be a deeper understanding of how effective joint working is in a specific area”, the document adds.
Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman, said: “The past two years have been challenging for all of us, but the pandemic was particularly hard for the most vulnerable in society.
“In that time Ofsted has continued to engage closely with the SEND sector, including bodies representing children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers. That has allowed us to develop and refine the proposals for a new framework.
“I welcome responses from the sector whether that be parents, carers or children and young people themselves to help us shape our plans further. Working together, we can ensure that every child gets the best start in life, whatever their background or needs.”
The consultation, will run until September 11, as part of a range of engagement activities Ofsted and CQC are carrying out across the sector as well as with children and young people, parents, and carers, according to the inspectorates.
A new approach to area SEND inspections - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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