This independent report has been prepared to provide a snapshot of the Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) experience of families in Somerset.
The information in this report forms part of a presentation, coproduced with SENDIAS and “The Unstoppables”, shared with the SEND Partnership Board in May 2023, which is available here.
Our work with “The Unstoppables” and SENDIAS has identified that the experiences in Somerset showed that an EHC plan does not always reflect the current needs of the child or young person.
During the period of 24th April to 1st May, we ran a poll to capture an up-to-date snapshot of local experiences. This was added to the experiences we have heard between January and April 2023 through groups, emails and calls.
- 69 people completed the poll
- 27 parent experiences were additionally heard
- 25 hours spent discussing the topic with families
- Additionally, we have heard lots of experiences via social media.
*All experiences have been anonymised to protect the identity of the families.
The report evidences the experiences of families in particular, regarding:
- involvement of children, young people and their families
- the reviewing of the plan
- the child being reflected in the plan
Reflecting upon these recent experiences, we can see that although some experiences are better, all parts of the system need to make further improvements, to ensure all children with a plan have a positive experience. You can read the full report here.