SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure sets out the specific provision under the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs or disabilities and their carers. For the purposes of
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure sets out the specific provision under the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs or disabilities and their carers. For the purposes of the Act, 'young person' is someone aged 16-25. The Care Act 2014 introduced changes to adult care and support. This also includes transitions for young disabled people into adulthood, and support to carers.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 - 25 years Statutory Guidance for Organisations who work with Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (revised January 2015)
This guide to the Code should be read in conjunction with the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice.
Care and Support Statutory Guidance (GOV.UK) (July 2016), Statutory guidance to support local authorities implement the Care Act 2014
In April 2017, Section 3, Local Offer was updated with a link to Lancashire’s Local Offer.
- Duty to Provide Information, Advice and Support
- Local Offer
- Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment
- Education, Health and Care Plans
- Timescales for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and Preparation of an Education, Health and Care Plan
- Personal Budgets
- Transfer of Education, Health and Care Plans
- Reviewing Education, Health and Care Plans
- Inter-relationship with Other Plans
- Transitions from Children's to Adults' Services
- Ceasing to Maintain an Education, Health and Care Plan
- Young Carers and Parent Carers of Disabled Children
- Resolving Disagreements
The Children and Families Act 2014 takes forward the reform programme set out in Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs And Disability: Progress And Next Steps by:
- Extending the Special Educational Needs (SEN) system from birth to 25 and giving children, young people and their parents greater control and choice in decision-making;
- Replacing Statements of Special Educational Needs and learning difficulty assessments with birth- to-25 Education, Health and Care Plans;
- Offering families Personal Budgets - young people and parents of children who have Education, Health and Care Plans have the right to request a Personal Budget, which may contain elements of education, social care and health funding;
- Creating a duty for joint commissioning which requires local authorities and health bodies to work in partnership when arranging provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs;
- Requiring local authorities to involve children, young people and parents in reviewing and developing provision for those with Special Educational Needs and to publish a Local Offer of services;
- Extending the entitlement to an assessment to all young carers under the age of 18 regardless of who they care for or the type and frequency of this care;
- Giving Parent Carers the right to a stand-alone assessment.
Local authorities should adopt a key working approach, which provides children, young people and parents with a single point of contact to help ensure the holistic provision and co-ordination of services and support.
The local authority must engage other partners it thinks appropriate to support young people with SEN and disabilities. This might include voluntary organisations, CAMHS, local therapists, Jobcentre Plus and their employment support advisers, training/apprenticeship/supported employment providers, housing associations, careers advisers, leisure and play services. Local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) should consider the role that private, voluntary and community sector providers can play in delivering services.
Local authorities must review the special educational provision and social care provision in their areas for children and young people who have SEN or disabilities and the provision made for local children and young people who are educated out of the area, working with the partners to their joint commissioning arrangements. The local authority must consult with children and young people with SEN or disabilities and their parents. Joint commissioning arrangements must consider the needs of children and young people with SEN and disabilities.
The Designated Medical Officer provides the point of contact for local authorities, schools and colleges seeking health advice on children and young people who may have SEN or disabilities, and provides a contact for CCGs or health providers so that appropriate notification can be given to the local authority of children under compulsory school age who they think may have SEN or disabilities.
The Act gives significant new rights directly to young people once they reach the end of compulsory school age (the end of the academic year in which they turn 16). When a young person reaches the end of compulsory school age, local authorities and other agencies should normally engage directly with the young person rather than their parent, ensuring that as part of the planning process they identify the relevant people who should be involved and how to involve them. Most young people will continue to want, or need, their parents and other family members to remain involved in discussions and decisions about their future. Some young people, possibly some parents, will not have the mental Capacity to make certain decisions or express their views.
A 3 year review by the Law Commission recommended that the past 60 years of legislation relating to adults and their care and support needs should be simplified and streamlined. This resulted in the Care Act 2014, which came into force commencing in April 2015. The Act legislates as to how Local Authorities must provide services to adults requiring care and support that will enable them to achieve the outcomes that matter to them in their life. This legislation sees a change from the “duty to provide services” to “meeting needs” – it promotes the idea of what an individual needs rather than a 'one size fits all' approach. It introduces what is commonly being referred to as the 'Wellbeing Principle', and it applies in all cases where a local authority is carrying out an assessment on an individual and when it