1. Implementing the SEN and Disability Reforms: Parents and Carers November 2014

2. The current system is complicated, expensive and delivers poor outcomes Parents and carers struggle to find the services that should be helping them, have to battle to get the help their children need, and have to tell their stories time and again. Moving from children’s to adults’ services can be very difficult. English LAs spend over £5 billion a year on SEND provision, and yet those with special needs are far more likely to achieve poorly at GCSE, Not be in Education, Employment or Training, or be unemployed. These issues affect a lot of people: 1 in 5 children are currently identified as having some form of SEND, with 2.8% having a more complex need. 2

3. We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special educational needs and disability reforms bring a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working. We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special educational needs and disability reforms bring a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working. Aims of the SEN and disability reforms

4. Option of a Personal Budget Integrated assessment and planning Joint commissioning Better disagreement resolution processes The SEN and Disability reforms: putting children and young people at the centre 0-25 Children and young people with SEND and families Where disagreements happen, they can be resolved early and amicably, with the option of a Tribunal for those that need it Children, young people and parents understand a joined up system, designed around their needs Having friends Outcomes Employment prospects Positive Wellbeing Good qualifications Making their views heard Local offer Enablers Education Health and Care Plan is holistic, co- produced, focused on outcomes, and is delivered Extending choice and control over their support. Information, advice and support

5. Key principles Section 19 of the Children and Families Act lays the foundation for working in partnership with children and young people and their parents and carers. Local authorities must have regard to: The views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parents; The importance of allowing them to participate in decisions relating to themselves (or their child); The importance of providing information to enable active participation in decision-making; The need to support the child, young person and their parents to facilitate development and enable the best possible outcomes, educational or otherwise. 5

6. Joint Commissioning

7. Joint commissioning: National framework / Local process A national statutory framework (Children and Families Act 2014, regulations; SEN and Disability Code of Practice) with local implementation to reflect local priorities (Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and Joint Health and Well being Strategies)

8. Information Advice and Support Service Each local authority must provide children and young people with SEN and disabilities and parents/carers with impartial information and advice about matters related to SEN and disability including health and social care and information about personal budgets Local authorities must take steps to make these services known to parents/carers, schools, post-16 institutions and others and must include Information about these services must be included in their local offer Local authorities should involve parents/carers, children and young people in the design or commissioning of information and advice services Local joint commissioning arrangements must include arrangements for agreeing what information and advice about education, health and care provision is to be provided, how it is to be provided and by whom Funding has been provided for 2 years for the recruitment and training of around 1800 Independent Supporters from the private and voluntary and community sectors to help families through the Education, Health and Care needs assessment process. 8

9. The Local offer Key purposes To provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up to date information about available provision and how to access it To make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving disabled children and those with SEN and their parents, disabled young people and those with SEN and service providers in its development and review National framework / local implementation Statutory basis for local offer is provided by Children and Families Act and associated Regulations plus statutory guidance in SEN and Disability Code of Practice Local authorities decide how to develop their local offer and the detailed content with local people Local authorities must publish comments from disabled children and those with SEN and their parents and disabled young people and those with SEN at least once a year and must publish what action they will take in response to those comments Maintained nursery schools and “any other person (other than a school or post 16 institution) that makes special educational provision for a child for whom the [local] authority is responsible” must cooperate with the local authority in respect of the local offer 9

10. Education, Health and Care assessments and plans Early Years providers can bring individual children who they believe have or may have SEN to the attention of the local authority for the local authority to consider whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary – expect this to be when despite relevant and purposeful action the child is not making expected progress and with the knowledge and, where possible, agreement of the parent Parents have a right to request an EHC needs assessment Where the local authority decides to carry out an EHC needs assessment it will seek information from the early years setting about the child’s needs (along with advice from health and social care and from the child’s parents) Parents can ask for a particular state funded school, FE college, non-maintained special school or independent special school or college approved under s41 of the C & F Act to be named in an EHC plan and the local authority has a conditional duty to name it Once named in a plan a maintained school must admit the child The local authority is responsible for making sure that the special educational provision in the plan is delivered Where health care provision is specified in the plan the health authority must arrange it Parents of children with an EHC plan can ask for a personal budget EHC plans must be reviewed annually 10

11. Education Health and Care Plans: person centred and focusing on outcomes 11

12. Education Health and Care plans: a speedier process The whole process, from initial request to issuing the final EHC plan, should take no longer than 20 weeks, with 6 weeks to make the initial decision about assessment. LA notification that plan will not be issued following assessment Final plan 6 wks 16 wks 20 wks Initial request for an EHC needs assessment Assessment and planning Contributors to planning must respond within 6 weeks of request for information LA response to request

13. Resolving disagreements People will still be able to appeal to the Tribunal but parents and young people will have the opportunity to go to mediation before appealing; Before registering an appeal with the Tribunal parents and young people will have to contact an independent mediation adviser for information on mediation; Following this they can decide if they want to go to independent mediation – the local authority would have to attend and the mediation would take place within 30 days; This gives parents and young people the chance of settling their dispute without the stress of having to go through an appeal at the Tribunal – but they do not lose their right to appeal if they choose not to opt for mediation; The Children and Families Act widens mediation to include considering health and social care issues; Secretary of State for Education and Lord Chancellor are conducting a review of complaint and appeal arrangements for children and young people with SEND. The review will include piloting the Tribunal making recommendations about health and social care where appeals are made aspects of EHC plans. 13

14. Managing the transition to the new system: Overview The legal test of when a child or young person requires an EHC plan remains the same as that for a statement under EA 1996 and it is expected that all children and YP who have a statement and who would have continued to have one under the current system, will be transferred to an EHC plan. No child or young person should lose their statement and not have it replaced with an EHC plan simply because the SEN system is changing. All new requests for assessments from 1 September 2014 treated as Education Health and Care needs assessments All statements must be transferred to EHC plans by 1 April 2018. Local authorities must publish a transition plan in Sept 2014 setting out how they will manage the transition and publish a report on progress annually. All young people who receive support as a result of a Learning Difficulty Assessment who are continuing in Further Education or training beyond 1 Sept 2016 who need an EHC plan should have one by 1 Sept 2016. Guidance and statutory Order can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-managing-changes-to-legislation-from- september-2014

15. Managing the transition to the new system: Phasing of transfers Requirements between Sept 2014 and Sept 2015: Young People who receive support as a result of a LDA who request an EHC needs assessment; Young People moving into Further Education or training from school in Sept 2015 (by 31 May 2015; by 31 March subsequently) Other priorities: Those issued with non-statutory EHC plans prior to Sept 2014 who do not have statements Those facing key transition points – such as entry to primary school, primary to secondary school, and secondary school to FE- and at year 9

16. Managing the transition to the new system: The transfer process Local Authorities must undertake an EHC needs assessment and invite parents to a meeting as part of the process The local authority must not seek any advice required for an EHC needs assessment if such advice has previously been provided for any purpose and the person providing that advice, the local authority and the child’s parents or the young person are satisfied that it is sufficient. Process should take a maximum of 14 weeks to ensure a robust EHC plan. Many transfers will be quicker. Aim is for transfers to be timed to take place when an annual review might otherwise have been conducted

17. Support for parents and carers Short breaks duty – local authorities must provide a range of short breaks for disabled children and young people, publish a short breaks statement and include details in their local offer Local offer must set out support groups and other organisations that can support parents and carers of disabled children and how to contact them Duty on local authorities to carry out an assessment of the needs of parent carers who provide or intend to provide care for a disabled child and in doing so to have regard to: – The well-being of the parent carer – The need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the disabled child cared for and any other child for whom the parent carer has parental responsibility The parent carer, child and any person the parent carer requests must be involved in the assessment Guidance to be included in Working Together 2013 and in separate CDC/DfE guidance on social care and the SEN and disability reforms

18. Voluntary and Community Sector Grants Prospectus New grants prospectus issued October 2014 inviting applications from voluntary and community sector organisations, social enterprises and other organisations bidding on a “not for profit” basis. Funding will be available for one year from 1 April 2015. Bids must be received by noon on 21 November 2014 Implementing the SEN and disability reforms is a key theme and we are seeking to fund projects that: – Provide support for local authority commissioners, providers and users of short breaks services to help them to promote the take up and understand the link between short breaks and the SEN reforms. – Encourage innovation in the commissioning and delivery of short breaks to maximise take up – Share best practice on commissioning and personalisation of short breaks in line with the SEND reforms. – Engage parent carer forums to improve the delivery of short breaks.