Minister’s Letter highlights NDTi’s work to develop EHC Planning Best Practice

Mr Hinds said;

“I recognise the rising demand for EHC plans for those over 19, and the need for education, health and social care services to agree a shared vision of what good life outcomes look like for an individual, and when it is right to cease an EHC plan. We have commissioned one of our delivery partners, the National Development Team for Inclusion to work with 20 local authorities to develop and model effective practice on this, and to share their findings across regions.”

The work continues to build on NDTi’s long established national programmes of support for Local Authorities and SEND Practitioners in SEND leadership and Preparing for Adulthood.

Julie Pointer, NDTi’s Programme Lead for Children and Young People, added

“EHC Planning has been a rising priority for most local authorities that we work with, especially as they now go beyond 16 and can go up to 25. Ofsted and CQC SEND inspections have also raised concern about some plans not being holistic enough and with too much focus on education outcomes. We believe that the preparing for adulthood outcomes provide a fantastic opportunity in all SEND planning to develop some amazing outcomes for Young People, particularly around employment. We welcome this announcement and look forward to further developing and sharing examples of best practice.”

The minister announced additional measures, including:

• Outlining the next steps to establish a new SEND System Leadership Board focused on improving local joint commissioning
• Regular joint Ministerial roundtables with the Department for Health and Social Care to give providers, users and voluntary sector organisations further opportunities to input their views and insight across the SEND system
• reviewing current SEND content in Initial Teacher Training provision (ITT) and building on our existing SEND specialist qualifications to develop a continuum of learning from ITT, through teachers’ early careers and into specialist and leadership roles
• ensuring a sufficient supply of Educational Psychologists (EPs), trained and working within the system to carry out the statutory functions linked to the EHC plan process, and to support teachers and families.

To read the Ministers letter in full click here.

For further information on the Post 19 work that NDTi are doing that includes better EHC Planning, contact Julie Pointer on 01225 255 268 or email julie.pointer@ndti.org.uk