The education, health and care needs assessment process

This process begins from the time we receive a request for an education health and care needs assessment.

A panel of professionals will look at your request for an EHC needs assessment. They come from education, health and care and we call this a multi-agency panel. The panel will advise Lancashire County Council if an assessment is needed.

They will consider the child or young person's special educational needs and the support already in place.

Within six weeks of receiving the request, the council will tell you the decision. The decision will be either to carry out an assessment or to continue with SEN support.

You will get a letter from the council. The letter will explain the reasons for not doing the assessment, if that is the decision. It will also tell you how to appeal.

You can find more information on the disagreements and complaints page.

The EHC needs assessment will consider the child or young person's needs.

The local authority will ask for advice from:

  • parents and carers
  • child or young person
  • the nursery, school or college
  • specialist teachers
  • medical and health professionals
  • an educational psychologist
  • social care professionals

Everyone has 6 weeks to provide the advice.

The local authority will consider your views, wishes and aspirations. They will also ask advice from other professionals about:

  • education, health and care needs
  • support required to meet these needs

to help achieve the goals and outcomes they have discussed with you.

The multi-agency panel will consider all the information and advise the local authority about issuing an EHC plan.

  • A decision to issue an EHC plan will be made if the multi-agency panel advise that more specialist support is needed.
  • A decision not to issue an EHC plan will be made if the multi-agency panel advises that special educational needs can be met through SEN support

The decision will be made within 16 weeks of the request being received.

If it is decided that it is not necessary to issue an EHCP, your EHCP officer will offer to speak with you. They will explain the decision and discuss the next steps. You will get copies of the advice that contributed to the assessment.

The council will send you a formal confirmation letter. This letter will include information about how you can appeal this decision. You can find more information about this on the disagreements and complaints page.

After the assessment, if an EHC plan is needed, we will send you the draft EHC plan.

If you prefer a paper copy you can request this via your local Inclusion Service area team.

There is a 15-day consultation period. In this time you can:

  • discuss the content of the plan with us
  • express a particular school or type of school to be named in the final plan - in many cases, this will be the school that your child already attends

The quickest way to contact us is through the online form (the EHC Dashboard). You can also contact your EHCP officer.

As part of the plan, you may choose to have a personal budget. If you'd like to know more about a personal budget, you can talk to your EHCP officer.

We will consult you on any further changes before the final plan is issued.

You will get the final EHC plan by email within 20 weeks of the original request. The plan will name a suitable educational placement in Section I.

You can request a paper copy of the plan if you need one.

Keeping you informed and listening to your views

If a request has been made, the local authority must inform you that an EHC needs assessment is being considered.

You will be allocated a named EHCP officer and a caseworker. Both of these workers will be available to guide you through the process, answer your questions and provide support.

Within 6 weeks of receiving your request, there will usually be an opportunity for you and your child to meet with your EHCP officer. This meeting is called a person-centred planning meeting and will be a chance to consider:

  • hopes, aims and aspirations for the future
  • strengths and needs
  • support already in place
  • what works well and what could be better
  • what else may be needed
  • outcomes/preparing for adulthood

You can also ask for other professionals to attend this meeting if you think this would be helpful. It may not be possible for everyone to attend, but every effort will be made to try and make sure those who need to be there are there.

If this meeting takes place before a decision is made to go ahead with an assessment, it will provide useful information for the assessment.

It is also a chance to talk about the support your child needs from their nursery, school or college, if the decision is made to continue with SEN support.

The local authority will ask your views throughout the assessment process and when developing the EHC plan.

As a parent or carer your views, wishes and feelings and those of your child must be considered.

If you have any concerns about the EHC Plan contact your EHCP Officer or the Designated Clinical Officer for your area.