EHCPs should be reviewed by the LA every year (following Annual Review meetings) to ensure any changes in circumstances can be taken into account and amendments made to the description of needs, the provision to be made or the placement attended.
In some situations, it may be decided by the LA that the EHCP is no longer needed.
In these circumstances, a letter should be sent to the parent/carer or young person stating the intention to cease to maintain the EHCP from a particular date. Representations can be made at this point disputing that intention.
On receipt of the final decision letter, ceasing the EHCP, an appeal can be made, although mediation needs to be considered and a Certificate is required for an appeal to be accepted by SENDIST.
This type of decision can only be made in certain circumstances:
- If a young person permanently leaves education or training, then an EHCP is no longer required.
- If a young person moves into Higher Education, then EHCPs are no longer relevant. The higher education course may be at a college, university or other Higher Education Institute (HEI).
In other situations, the EHCP should only be ceased if it can be established that it is no longer required because all of the Long-Term Outcomes in Section E of the EHCP have been fully met.
In line with preparing young people for adulthood, a local authority must not cease an EHC Plan simply because a young person is aged 19 or over.
Young people with EHC plans may need longer in education or training in order to achieve their outcomes and make an effective transition into adulthood.
With appeals that concern a decision to Cease to Maintain an EHCP, it is important to note that the EHCP – provision and placement – continues until the appeal is resolved (i.e. until a written decision is received from the Tribunal).