Section 19 Protocol
Lancashire County Council Children and Young People’s Service
Section 19 Protocol
November 2024
Date of Review: November 2026
1. Introduction
Lancashire is a diverse county, and home to many inspiring, talented, proud, and brave young people who aspire to succeed. To ensure our young people in Lancashire can thrive, Lancashire schools and the local authority need to ensure that children and young people of compulsory school age receive a suitable education. Every young person truly matters in Lancashire, and they will build on the foundations that we set today to make Lancashire an increasingly wonderful place to be raised, reside and work within.
This protocol describes how the Local Authority will achieve its commitment and meet its duties under relevant national legislation and guidance.
2. Purpose
The purpose of this protocol is to:
Ensure access to education for all children who are excluded, and unable to attend due to health needs and those unable to attend school for other reasons.
Define roles and responsibilities of local authority staff, schools, and families.
Establish clear processes for identification, assessment, and provision of support.
3. Scope
This protocol applies to all children within Lancashire who are excluded from school, unable to attend school for health reasons or for other reasons. It covers educational settings, including mainstream schools, special schools, and alternative provisions.
4. Definitions
Exclusion: A child is excluded when they are removed from a school for disciplinary reasons, whether fixed-term or permanent.
Health-Related Absence: A child unable to attend school due to physical or mental health issues.
Special Educational Needs (SEN): A child has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability that requires special educational provision.
5. Legal context
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 (legislation.gov.uk) requires local authorities to make arrangements to provide suitable (usually) full time education at school or otherwise that at school, for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion or otherwise may not receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.
Suitable education is defined as “efficient education suitable to the age, aptitude and any special educational needs”, the child (or young person) may have. Our aim is to ensure that all children can access education tailored to their needs.
Section 19 applies to any situation in which a child cannot attend school. Particular rules relating to excluded children and guidance relating to children with special educational needs and disabilities are covered below. It is for a Local Authority to determine that a child will not receive a suitable education unless arrangements are made for them. Each Local Authority must also consider its wider duties and responsibilities, including those in the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and DfE Attendance Guidance.
“Improving attendance is everyone’s business. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the school gates, and are often specific to individual pupils and families. The foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils want to be and are keen and ready to learn. Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school”. Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK. Where a child or young person is disengaged from learning or not attending, including for reasons related to their mental health and wellbeing, the Local Authority has a responsibility to ensure that reasonable adjustments and support are in place to address the underlying reasons before considering whether alternative provision is appropriate.
6. Illness
Children and young people who have additional health needs are, by the nature of their difficulties, at risk of failing to reach their true potential within an educational context. This is particularly the case for children and young people whose health needs prevent them from attending school for an extended period, or for those who are restricted by their health needs to attending school on a part-time or sporadic basis. What provision is required for a child who is too ill to attend school is ultimately for the Local Authority to decide after considering medical advice and information provided by parents and schools. Securing alternative provision for children who are too ill to attend school falls within the Section 19 duty. The Local Authority also has to consider the statutory guidance ‘Education for children with health needs who cannot attend school.
Schools have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to allow the pupil to access a suitable full-time education (or as much as the child’s health condition can manage) in line with statutory guidance. There is a requirement for schools to maintain a health care plan for any pupil with medical needs (different to an EHCP) that focuses on how to reintegrate and support the young person back into school as soon as possible, a child should not be in receipt of Alternative Provision for more than 12 weeks in most cases.
Every effort will be made to minimise any disruption to a pupil’s education. Schools will use the graduated response to assess, meet and review the needs of their pupils and include the recommendations of appropriate professionals.
Where a pupil is unable to attend school for medical reasons, the Local Authority will work alongside schools, parents, health and other professionals to support with putting suitable education in place - this will be dependent of the young person's individual needs but could include the use of AV1, online tuition or face to face tuition. This will be at no cost for the first 6 weeks, beyond this if the pupil has not reintegrated the school can commission and fund continuation from E2 and E3 funding; if school needs support with arranging this Lancashire will commission 18 hours of suitable provision and recharge at £70 per hour.
Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) is a broad umbrella term used to describe a group of children and young people who experience significant and enduring challenges in attending school due to emotional factors, mainly feelings of fear and anxiety. Schools have policies and processes in place to support children and young people on their roll. The ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance outlines the expectations for schools in this respect. Schools also need to be aware of their responsibilities when mental health issues are impacting on a child’s attendance. The local authority does not need to become involved in such arrangements unless it has reason to believe that the education being provided by the school is unsuitable.
Details of Lancashire County Council’s EBSA guidance can be found here: School anxiety and school avoidance.
Where an absence is planned e.g., hospital admission or recurrent stay in hospital, educational provision should begin as soon as the child is well enough. Teachers in the hospital settings will liaise with the child’s home school and work with them to minimise any disruption to their education. In Lancashire, education for children attending hospital as either a day patient or in-patient, and for those who medical professionals advise are unable to leave their homes, is provided by Lancashire's hospital education service which is overseen by Virtual School Headteacher. Hospital or home teaching if your child is ill.
In line with the Section 19 duty, Lancashire County Council will arrange suitable full time education (or as much education as the child’s health condition allows) for children of compulsory school age who, because of illness, would otherwise not receive suitable education within a short-term medical provision.
All requests/referrals for commissioned medical placements are made by the child or young person’s mainstream school with recent supporting medical evidence.
A fortnightly multi-agency panel, consisting of representatives from health, education and Lancashire County Council, will then determine if the referral is part of the Local Authority Section 19 Duty or whether the school should be required to meet the child’s need with support. The panel will agree the service that is required to meet the pupil’s individual needs and circumstances. Staff will liaise with the school, family and appropriate medical professionals to ensure minimal delay in arranging appropriate provision for the child. Every effort will be made to minimise disruption to the child’s education.
The place is approved on the following conditions (as in the Commissioning Agreement):
There is active/or recent work with clinicians/medical professionals.
Regular reviews are held with the pupil, parents/carers, mainstream school, clinical/medical professions and any other agencies involved.
The pupil is dual rolled (the pupil is not to be taken off the roll of their mainstream school) and the local authority should, alongside the child’s home school, regularly review the provision offered to ensure that it continues to be appropriate for the child and that it is providing suitable education.
The local authority should work with referring schools to set up an individually tailored reintegration plans for each child: this could take the form of an Individual Healthcare Plan. This should include extra support to help fill any gaps arising from the child’s absence.
7. Exclusion
If a pupil is considered to be at risk of exclusion, it is Lancashire's expectation that schools should consider support available to maintain a pupil’s placement in school. Suspension or Permanent Exclusion should, therefore, be used as a last resort and only as a protective consequence, in response to serious or persistent breaches of a school’s behaviour policy and when allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil and others in the school. Advice and support for schools regarding appropriate strategies to maintain a pupil's placement at school is available through the Lancashire schools' portal. The local authority must arrange suitable full-time education for the pupil to begin no later than the sixth school day of the exclusion. This will be the pupil's ‘home authority’ in cases where the school is maintained by (or located within) a different local authority.
Arranging alternative provision for permanently excluded pupils falls within the Section 19 duty; Lancashire discharges this duty through the County’s Pupil Referral Units. For suspensions, this responsibility falls to the school’s governing board in accordance with s.100 Education and Inspections Act 2006 (as amended).
8. Otherwise
Considering a request for alternative provision for other reasons is also part of the Local Authority’s duty under Section 19. This often involves a parent/carer concern that their child’s needs are not being met. Children and young people with additional needs should have their meets met wherever possible within their local school, or the named school in the case of a child with an EHCP. Lancashire are committed to inclusion and ensuring any barriers to school attendance are removed. Providers and services believe in the importance of working together to overcome barriers to learning and attendance, to ensure children and young people can access their entitlement to go to their local school or their named school. We want all children and young people, regardless of their individual needs and circumstances, to be well supported, have their needs met, and be included in their local community.
Lancashire Council discharges this duty through a multi-disciplinary Team around the Family (TAF) meeting arranged by the school to include the family, the school and any other relevant professionals. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure that everyone is working together to ensure suitable education is on offer either through the school or by the school through the use of appropriate alternative provision for a fixed term with a focus on developing the child’s resilience and removing barriers to engagement and supporting a suitable reintegration to their local school or the school named within the EHCP. Schools should consider the support available to them via the Local Offer and where necessary consult with the child’s SEN Casework Officer. If it is clear that an alternative provision is required, then schools should call a Statutory Review to enable professionals working with the family to come together. The review will look at the support required by the pupil to be able to successfully access education and provide recommendations for any adaptation their EHCP. Guidance for schools on the use of alternative provision can be found here: Alternative provision - GOV.UK.
Where a child moves into the local area or when an independent specialist provider serves notice on a placement, the local authority will attempt to secure as far as possible, similar or equivalent support to that provided by the previous LA, taking into account the specific needs of the child as detailed in their EHCP plan. If a child was previously educated in a mainstream school, the LA will name the child’s nearest mainstream school, in the event that the child was previously supported within a resourced provision or specialist setting, a similar setting will be sought. If there are delays in this process, then up to 10 hours of interim tuition will be provided to provide continuation of provision until a suitable school is secured.
9. Children missing education
Children missing education (CME) are children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school. Children missing education are at significant risk of underachieving, being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life. All local authorities should have clear policies, processes and named contacts that supports the identification of children who are not registered at a school, details on Lancashire’s CME processes can be found here: Children missing education.
10. Monitoring and evaluation
The effectiveness of this protocol will be monitored through regular reviews and feedback from stakeholders, including parents, schools, and external agencies.
Annual reports will evaluate the success of provisions for SEN, exclusions, and health-related absences.
11. Complaints procedure
Parents and guardians with concerns regarding the educational provision for their child should follow the local authority’s complaints procedure, accessible on our website.
12. Conclusion
Lancashire is dedicated to ensuring that all children, regardless of their circumstances, have access to the support and resources necessary to succeed in their education. This Section 19 policy serves as a framework for promoting inclusive education and ensuring that every child receives a suitable education.
13. Contact
Information For more information or to discuss concerns regarding educational provisions, please contact: alternativeprovision@lancashire.gov.uk
14. National guidance and documents
Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK
Education Act 1996 - legislation.gov.uk
Education and Inspections Act 2006 - legislation.gov.uk
Education for children with health needs who cannot attend school - GOV.UK
School suspensions and permanent exclusions - GOV.UK
SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years - GOV.UK
Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools - GOV.UK