Special Education Needs (SEN)

Each local authority (council) must publish a 'Local Offer' on its website, detailing what provision they expect to be available across education, health, and social care for children with special educational needs (SEN), or a disability. This includes those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

Find this by searching online for your local authority's name, followed by 'local offer'. If you find any gaps in the information, you can contact them. They must respond to comments on the Local Offer and should actively seek to fill any gaps in provision. We have prepared a Template Letter you can use to write to them.

One of the requirements under the Children and Families Act (see below) is that all local authorities must provide an information, advice and support service that should offer impartial, confidential, accessible and free advice to families.

The government has also set up a funded programme of Independent Supporters, led by the Council for Disabled Children. These independent supporters aim to provide help and guidance to families seeking support under the Children and Families Act. You can find out more about the independent supporters programme, including how to find your nearest Supporter, by following this link.

In addition Irwin Mitchell, in partnership with national deaf-blind charity Sense and Monckton Chambers, have developed a series of factsheets and template letters to help you better understand the law around SEN issues and make basic legal representation yourself.

Yes. Many of our cases are carried out through the Court of Protection. The Court appoints deputies on behalf of people who have lost the capacity to make decisions themselves.

In cases where there are no close friends or family to act on the client's behalf, a solicitor may be appointed as a deputy. Solicitors are also appointed if there are exceptionally complex decisions to be made. You may also act on behalf of your children, without having to go through the Court of Protection, provided they are under 18 years of age.

The Children and Families Act of 2014 has been described as the biggest reform to child welfare legislation in 30 years. It included wide changes to special educational needs and has affected all children and young people with special educational needs under the age of 25.

Under Part 3 of the act, all existing statements of special educational needs for children in schools and learning difficulty assessments for young people in education and training have been replaced with a combined Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan).

Before you can access SEN support, you must first request an Educational, Health and Care (EHC) assessment from your local authority. The request must be made by:

• If under 16 - the child's parent.
• If aged 16-25 - the young person can make the request themselves (provided they sufficiently understand the request) or it can be made by their parents.

The process for requesting SEN support is as follows:

1. Make a request in writing to your local authority. We have prepared a template letter for requesting EHC assessments which you can view and download here.
2. The Local Authority must then seek information and advice on the child or young person in question's needs and the support needed to meet those needs and outcomes from a number of following sources which are all detailed in this factsheet.
3. by week 6 all the advice should have been collated and sent to the Local Authority.
4. By week 14 a draft EHC plan must have been produced and sent to you for review. If there is any delay in your receiving this plan, and you need to chase, then please feel free to use the template letter we have prepared for this purpose.
5. Between weeks 14 and 16 you have 15 days to get in touch with your Local Authority about the content of your EHC plan. You can request a meeting to discuss the plan and you can tell the name and type of school or college you want named in the final plan. If you think there are amendments to be made, or if you'd like to request a school or placement, then feel free to use the template letter we have prepared for this.
6. By week 16 the Local Authority must have contacted the school/college named in the EHC, who then have 15 days to respond.
7. By week 20 the final plan must have been issued by the Local Authority and sent to both you and the governing body or principal of any school, college or other institution named in the EHC plan. If you need to chase up the outcome of a final plan, then please use this template letter we have prepared.