SEN Code of Practice
The SEN Code of Practice is the statutory code which contains the details of legal requirements that local authorities and partners must follow without exception and the statutory guidance that must be followed unless there’s a good reason not to. It explains the duties of local authorities, health bodies, schools and colleges to provide for those with special educational needs under part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
The code, which applies to England, is for:
- headteachers and principals
- governing bodies
- school and college staff
- special educational needs (SEN) coordinators
- early education providers
- local authorities
- health and social services staff
Full text can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
Education, Health and Care Plan
An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document which outlines the aspirations and goals of the child or young person, his/her needs, and ways to address the needs through provision of services by school, health and social are. It replaces the Statement of Educational Needs by virtue of The Children and Families Act 2014.
In Enfield, transferring from Statements to EHCP is being done in stages. If your child has a Statement, please check with the school about the transfer date or call us on 020 8373 6273.
If your child is in Post 16 education and has a Learning Difficulties Assessment (LDA), the LDA will continue. If you believe that your young person may need an Education Health Care Plan, your or your child can request an EHC Needs assessment at any time. More information about the process to secure an EHCP can be found on this link:
Personal Budget
A Personal Budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHC plan where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision” (Para 9.95 p 178, SEN Code of Practice).
Parents and/or young people have the right to request a Personal Budget when the Local Authority has confirmed that an EHCP will be drafted, when a Statement is converting to a Plan and during a statutory review of an existing Plan. As specified by The Code of Practice, Personal Budgets will be focused to secure the provision agreed and outcomes specified in the EHCP. The Local Authority will consider each request for a personal budget on its own individual merits.
Personal Budgets can be used to pay for aspects of provision on the Plan and the payment is from the Local Authority or the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to the parent or the young person’s nominee paid by Direct Payments. For a child under the age of 16, parents would usually control the budget with regards to the management and spend. From the end of compulsory schooling (Year 11) this will transfer to the young person unless the young person is considered unable to manage their budget under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) or unless the young person requests that the family manage the funding on their behalf.
Participation
Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 says that local authorities must have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child or the young person and his or her parent; and the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, participating as fully as possible in decisions relating to the exercise of the function concerned.
To support this we offer parents’ and young people’s steering groups to advise us on how we can provide good quality service to families and to feed back their views to the Local Authority. If you would like to be part of the steering groups please contact us to find out more.
Enfield Local Offer
Enfield Local Offer provides useful information to parents and children with SEND from 0 to 25 years old. It outlines the different services, how to access these services and the criteria for each. It is here to help families, individuals, groups and organisations find information so that you have more choice and control over what support is right. It is intended to help you to make informed choices about education, social activities, transport, and information on making the transition from child to adulthood.
It covers services within education: nurseries, playgroups, schools and colleges as well as support services like educational psychologists, early years and early intervention workers; health: local doctors, paediatricians, school nurses and therapists; social care: respite services and children’s disability services; and support and services in the voluntary and private sector across Enfield.
To view the Local Offer, please see the link below:
https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/children-and-education/local-offer/
Children and Families Act
The Children and Families Act was enacted in March 2014. It covers a lot of things but the relevant section for SEND is Section 19.
Amongst other things, it provides for a new Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan based on a single assessment process will replace special education statements. EHC plans will support children, young people and their families from birth to 25. Some principles of the act include:
- The commissioning and planning of services for children, young people and families will be run jointly by health services and local authorities.
- Extends the rights to a personal budget for the support to children, young people and families
- Local services available to children and families must be made available in a clear, easy to read manner.
- Local authorities must involve families and children in discussions and decisions relating to their care and education; and provide impartial advice, support and mediation services.
In Enfield, the reforms started in September 2014.
An overview of Section 19 can be downloaded from this site:
