The Council will circulate this decision to remind staff dealing with Education, Health and Care Plans of the importance of timely annual reviews, keeping proper records, issuing draft Education, Health and Care Plans before final Education, Health and Care Plans and providing appropriate transitional support.

The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to relevant staff on the Council’s duty to makealternative provision for children who cannot go to school for health reasons.The Council has agreed to ensure requests to the panel approving EOTAS include sufficient detail aboutthe consultations already made and provision considered to enable the panel tomake prompt and informed decisions about a child’s needs.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council has a duty to secure the provision in anEHC plan and must act if it is aware a school or other provider is not makingthis provision.The Council has agreed to identify andimplement measures to ensure the Council issues a Final amended EHC planfollowing annual review, giving the parent or young person the right to appealto the Tribunal.The Council has agreed to remind officers dealing with complaints that when the Council has got somethingwrong, it should consider the impact on the complainant and offer anappropriate remedy.

The Council agreed to review the faults identified in this case and produce an action plan for steps it will take to ensure it:carries out Education, Health, and Care (EHC) needs assessments within statutory timescales, including where it concedes an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) about its decision not to carry out an assessment;properly considers its duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide alternative education as soon as it is aware a child is out of school, properly records its considerations, and keeps arrangements under review;meets its duty to immediately secure the special educational needs (SEN) provision in a final EHC Plan. This includes proper consideration of to what extent it can deliver the Plan where a child is out of school; andcommunicates properly with families of SEN children where they raise concerns and queries, and responds in good time.The Council agreed to issue a reminder to staff that respond to complaints about its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service, about the importance of apologising to complainants where the Council accepts fault.

The Council failed to identify a school for a child, failed to ensure the child received the provision in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, and has failed to issue a final Plan following the child's annual review. The Council has agreed to review this case and prepare an action plan setting out how it will ensure: annual reviews are carried out on time and, where it decides to amend an EHC Plan, the final Plan is issued within 12 weeks of an annual review meeting; andit retains oversight of children out of school not receiving education.