Bristol City Council Wrongly Blocks EHCP Needs Assessment Again

Bristol City Council Blocks EHCP Needs Assessment Requests with the wrong section of law

Bristol City Council has been wrongly blocking new Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) needs assessment requests again, this time with incorrect use of the ‘exception’ rule. Parents have reported that requests they have submitted to the Bristol SEN Team have been recorded but that the requests are not being processed.

In an email to one Bristol parent, the council wrote: ‘The Local Authority has received a request for an EHC Needs Assessment for (name removed).

Ordinarily, we would send a decision to you as to whether or not the Local Authority will start an EHC Needs Assessment within 6 weeks of receiving this request.

However, during this extraordinary period with Coronavirus, the SEND Regulations (Section 4) states The local authority need not comply with the time limit referred to in paragraph (1) if it is impractical to do so because – the authority has requested advice from the person identified as having responsibility for special educational needs (if any) in relation to, or other person responsible for, a child’s education at a provider of relevant early years education during a period beginning one week before any date on which that provider was closed for a continuous period of not”

During such times, the request is recorded as an “Exception Case”.

We have recorded this request and as soon as we can proceed, we will of course be in touch with you.’

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 states that Local Authorities (LA) must stick to a rigid timescale in the processing of EHC Needs Assessment Requests and the subsequent drafting and finalising of plans. The entire process must take no longer than 20 weeks. There are exception cases to this rule. The LA does not need to comply with the time limit if it is ‘impractical to do so’ due to reasons specified in Regulation 13(3):

(a) the authority has requested advice from the head teacher or principal of a school or post16 institution during a period beginning one week before any date on which that school or institution was closed for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks from that date and ending one week before the date on which it re-opens;
(b) the authority has requested advice from the person identified as having responsibility for special educational needs (if any) in relation to, or other person responsible for, a child’s education at a provider of relevant early years education during a period beginning one week before any date on which that provider was closed for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks from that date and ending one week before the date on which it reopens;
(c) exceptional personal circumstances affect the child or the child’s parent, or the young person during that time period ; or
(d) the child or the child’s parent, or the young person, are absent from the area of the authority for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks during that time period.

Most schools in England are still open for the children of key workers, vulnerable children and those with EHCPs, so in this instance, the exception rule does not apply.

Parents and carers have been hitting back on Twitter

@CllrAnnaKeen @educatinghurley can we please have some clarification on the EHCNA request process? We are hearing of the use of exception rules being applied. Schools may not be operating normally but they aren’t closed, teachers are available to provide necessary information.

— Sally K (@southwestEHCP) April 5, 2020

EHCP delays have dogged Bristol City Council for some years now. Figures submitted to People Scrutiny Commission in February 2020 revealed that for the whole of 2019, just 3 EHCPs out of a total 410 undertaken in that year were finished within the legal timescale of 20 weeks.

In a statement, Bristol Send Justice said: ‘We are concerned by a number of reports from Bristol parents that Bristol City Council (the Local Authority) is failing to adhere to the statutory process in respect of Education Health Care Needs Assessments (EHCNA). We understand that parents have been sent a letter informing them that the Local Authority are applying the exception rule under Regulation 5 (4) of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014 in order to dislodge the six week time limit for determining requests for EHCNAs.

‘As we are sure you are aware, Regulation 5 (4) states that a local authority need not comply with the six week time limit if “(1)… it is impractical to do so because— (a) the local authority has requested advice from the head teacher or principal of a school or post-16 institution during a period beginning one week before any date on which that school or institution was closed for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks from that date and ending one week before the date on which it re-opens”.

‘It is clear that invoking this regulation in the current circumstances constitutes a wholly incorrect application of the exception rule. Schools may not be open in the normal manner, but they are emphatically not closed. Teachers and SENDCoS remain at work, albeit remotely in many cases, and can be contacted by telephone and email for relevant information and advice. Similarly, any consideration of EHCNA requests by the Local Authority panels that are unable to convene in person, can instead take place by video conferencing.

‘We consider it to be highly irresponsible and unprofessional to suggest to parents that the Local Authority’s statutory duties have in some way been suspended, when nothing could be further from the truth. Please confirm that no further letters stating this erroneous position will be sent to parents/carers and that all those who have received such a misleading communication will be contacted to confirm that the six week time limit for responding to EHCNA remains in force.’

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