Following the initial stage, the SEND key worker will present parents and the child’s views, wishes and feelings, and all the information and advice gathered during the education, health and care needs assessment to a multi-professional panel chaired by a senior officer from the SEND assessment and planning service.

In deciding whether to make special educational provision in accordance with an EHC Plan, the panel will consider all the information gathered during the education, health and care needs assessment. Where, despite appropriate assessment and provision, the child or young person is not progressing, or not progressing sufficiently well, the local authority should consider what further provision may be needed. The local authority should take into account:

• Whether the special educational provision required to meet the child or young person’s needs can reasonably be provided from within the resources normally available to mainstream early years providers, schools and post-16 institutions.
• Whether it may be necessary for the local authority to make special educational provision in accordance with an education, health and care plan.

Decisions are made based on a combination of the factors stated above, as well as the detailed threshold criteria.

The SEND key worker will inform parents or the young person whether it has been decided to issue an education, health and care plan or not as soon as practicable and at the latest within 16 weeks of the initial request or of the child or young person having otherwise been brought to the local authority’s attention.