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specific form (usually found on their website), but a letter will also suffice. It is advisable to date any request and send it by a method of recorded delivery (so that you can ensure that the request is received by the Local Authority and in order to keep an eye on the deadline for a response). The Local Authority should respond to a request for an EHC needs assessment within six weeks of receiving it.
What happens if the request is rejected?
If a Local Authority refuses to carry out an EHC needs assessment, then they must write to you explaining this decision. Within the decision letter, the Local Authority must inform you of your right to appeal against the decision. Any appeal is made to an independent tribunal called the First-Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
Before appealing, parents/young people should consider whether they wish to engage in mediation with the Local Authority. You are not required to engage in mediation, but this process must at least be considered. The mediation service (detailed on your decision letter) will issue a mediation certificate which then allows you to make an appeal. Appeals must reach the tribunal within two months of the decision letter, or one month from the mediation certificate, whichever date is later.
If the Local Authority refuses a request by a young person, any appeal should be made by the young person (a parent can support a young person who does not have the mental capacity to make the appeal, but the appeal should be in the young person’s name).
What happens if the Local Authority agrees to carry out the EHC
needs assessment?
The Local Authority in agreeing to carry out an EHC needs assessment, should therefore arrange for a variety of professionals to assess. The Local Authority should gather evidence from: the school/college, the parent or young person, an educational psychologist, medical advice from a health care professional, social care advice and advice from any other person the Local Authority deems appropriate. The Local Authority should also seek advice from any person the parent or young person reasonably requests (this could be for example, a speech and language therapist, a specialist teacher or an occupational therapist). In addition, where a child or young person has a hearing impairment and/or a visual impairment, the Local Authority should seek educational advice from a suitably qualified person.
At the end of the EHC needs assessment, the Local Authority must determine whether to issue an EHC Plan, and a further decision letter setting out the decision made should be sent to the parent or young person.
Concluding thoughts
Deciding whether to make a request for an EHC needs assessment can be a difficult and stressful decision to make. However, it is important not to listen to the myths that surround this process. All Local Authorities must adhere to the two requirements set out in law in Section 36(8) Children and Families Act 2014, and a higher threshold than what is required in law, should not be put in place when decision making.
■ Assessing needs. SEN114
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