Know Your Rights
Your legal rights at each stage of the EHCP process, with specific references to the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and Children and Families Act 2014.
ceasing plan
The Local Authority has decided to cease to maintain the EHC plan. It can only do that on two grounds, it must have consulted you first, and the plan stays in force while you appeal.
The plan must be maintained until your appeal is decided
The LA may not cease to maintain the plan until the period for bringing an appeal has ended without one, or until an appeal has been finally determined. Provision does not stop when the letter arrives.
Ask the LA to confirm in writing that provision continues while you appeal.
A plan can only be ceased on two grounds
The LA may cease only if it is no longer responsible for your child, or it determines that it is no longer necessary for the plan to be maintained.
Ask for the written reasons and check them against these two grounds.
Right to be consulted before the decision
Where the LA is considering ceasing to maintain the plan it must inform you, consult you, and consult the school or other institution named in the plan.
If you were not consulted, write to the LA flagging that as a procedural failure before you appeal.
Right to appeal a decision to cease
Having decided to cease, the LA must notify you, the named institution and the responsible commissioning body, and must tell you of your right to appeal and the time limit for doing so.
Register your appeal within 2 months of the decision.
Being 19 or over is not a reason to cease
A plan must not be ceased simply because a young person is 19 or over. Where they are 19 or over the LA must consider whether the education or training outcomes in the plan have been achieved.
If age is the reason given, write to the LA naming the outcomes in the plan that have not yet been achieved.
Cross-cutting rights
Some rights apply across the whole EHCP journey, not just at one stage.
- Recording calls with the LA or school: your right under UK GDPR to record your own conversations, plus how to do it on Android, iPhone, and desktop.
Key Legislation
Children and Families Act 2014
The primary legislation establishing the EHCP system, rights to assessment, and the SEND Tribunal.
Read on legislation.gov.uk →SEND Code of Practice 2015
Statutory guidance that LAs, schools, and health bodies must follow when supporting children with SEN.
Read on gov.uk →