EHCPs - Challenging Processes and Practices using your experiences

26/09/2023

This week PACC representatives have shared 10 case studies with key personelle across the Local Authority and Health Trust to demonstrate and raise again our concerns about families experiences not being truly undcerstood or reflected within the SEND System. We included a cover letter that highlights ongoing challenges with timescales, lack of annual review updates, and communication issues as broader concerns with the process. Following your reponses to our request to help us develop these case studies, we also included concerns about:

• Social Care needs being placed in the wrong sections or refusal to place social care needs in an EHCP because a social worker is not allocated.
• Refusal to include information in annual reviews or update EHCPs following annual reviews and delays in issuing annual review paperwork upon completion.
• Advice from practitioners being re-worded and the meaning or intention therefore altered by SEN Team staff when translating into the EHCP ( we have seen an increase in this over the last two years and are exceedingly worried about what function and role the plan coordinators/case officers are actually trying to undertake)

We also remain concerned about, and shared, the following, which we know the system is already aware of and referencing their commitment to improving often. They plan to address these via the Accelerated Progress Plan that is in place following the last Ofsted / CQC SEND Area Inspection:

• PFA still not being delivered at all year 9 annual reviews, with meetings not being communicated in appropriate time for social care and health practitioners to attend and contribute.
• EHCP outcomes remaining education focused with little or no inclusion of wider outcomes that schools can contribute towards or consideration of support for learning / activity that may take place outside of schools
• EHCPs remain significantly out of date with families working on documents at PFA that have not been amended or updated since KS1, resulting in needs profiles no longer reflect the child.

We cannot thank you enough for your contributions to the development of these case studies. They will help us to continue to challenge where practice and process needs improvement as well as to present solutions where families have identified improved or creative practice. Due to the variety of themes and topics covered in the case studies, we shared them with Childrens Social Care, Education, Adults Services, and Health Partners. We await their response to our concerns, but we anticipate the conversations that we are already having regularly will take stock of what we have shared and start looking at how we can address the systemic and thematic challenges we have identified.

Again,we thank those of you who have shared your experiences with us.

We are awaiting a response from