Case Ref: 23 019 879 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Provide training and guidance to staff about the importance of adhering to the statutory timescales in completing EHC Plan reviews and issuing the relevant notification letters as part of this process.
• Provide training to staff about the importance of accurate record keeping. The Council should also remind its Occupational Therapist teams and Physiotherapist teams about the importance of keeping records of the lengths of visits where timescales are specified in the EHC Plan.

Case Ref: 23 019 472 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to provide guidance to relevant staff regarding unofficial exclusions and off-site directions. It will include details of the actions they should take if they become aware that a school has unofficially excluded a pupil or is not following the guidance in relation to off-site directions.
• The Council has agreed to remind members of the EHC Plan Governance Board to fully explain the reasons for its decisions.
• The Council has agreed to provide guidance to staff on what they should do if none of the schools it consults will offer a child a place.
• The Council has agreed to ensure reasons are provided when staff write to parents with the Council’s decision to not amend an EHC Plan, against the recommendation of the school.

Case Ref: 23 019 324 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will ensure consultations are sent to parental preference schools and decisions with reasons are issued to parents in a timely manner in accordance with the requirements in the Act.

Case Ref: 23 018 241 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review lessons from this case to identify why it took two years to identify a specialist school place and to ensure staff are aware of the need to widen search areas and include independent schools when initial consults are unsuccessful. The Council may also wish to consider whether such cases should be escalated to senior staff or returned to panel when a panel recommendation remains outstanding after a set period.
• The Council will ensure it has robust processes in place to alert to statutory timescales and ensure agreed complaint actions are completed on time. The Council may wish to consider regular reviews of cases by managers where time limits have been exceeded.

Case Ref: 23 017 972 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Share this final decision with the Council’s Panel members to make them aware of the impact of their decisions.

Case Ref: 23 017 616 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• •Remind staff of the importance of effective record keeping.
• •Remind relevant staff of the Councils duties when completing the EHC Plan annual review process.
• •Review the attendance policy to ensure officers are aware of the importance of assessing individual cases and using professional judgement where appropriate.

Case Ref: 23 015 720 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• the Council has agreed to share the learning from this decision with relevant officers.
• The Council has agreed to remind officers they must ensure the delivery of provision in EHC Plans, including those issued following a tribunal order, within the required timescales.

Case Ref: 23 015 228 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will complete a review of its transfer processes to ensure they are in line with the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice in relation to children with Education, Health and Care Plans. The Council should produce a timebound action plan to implement any improvements it identifies as necessary as a result of that review
• The Council has also agreed to remind relevant staff members dealing with transfers of children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans that it should accept the EHC Plan as it is, provide a placement and/or the provision in the Plan and then complete the annual review process set out in the SEND code of practice.

Case Ref: 23 013 826 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will develop and implement a process for its Travel and Assessment team to ensure appeals are progressed in line with government guidance and applicants are responded to in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 23 012 668 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council has agreed to provide us with an action plan which sets out how, in future, it will avoid similar failures to secure section 19 provision and deliver special educational needs support to children who cannot go to school.