Children and Young People Aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Scope of this chapter
This procedure sets out the specific provision available to children and young people aged 0-18 with Special Educational Needs or disabilities and their carers. For the purposes of this procedure a ‘young person’ is someone aged 14-18.
Related guidance
The Committee should adopt a key working approach, which provides children, young people and parents with a single point of contact to help ensure the holistic provision and co-ordination of services and support.
The Committee must engage other partners it thinks appropriate to support young people with SEN and disabilities. This might include voluntary organisations, CAMHS, local therapists, and their employment support advisers, training/apprenticeship/supported employment providers, housing associations, careers advisers, leisure and play services. The States of Guernsey must review the special educational provision and social care provision in their areas for children and young people who have SEN or disabilities and the provision made for local children and young people who are cared for out of jurisdiction, working with the partners to their joint commissioning arrangements. The States Committees should consult with children and young people with SEN or disabilities and their parents. Joint commissioning arrangements must consider the needs of children and young people with SEN and disabilities.
When a young person reaches the end of compulsory school age, Children and Family Community Services and other agencies should normally engage directly with the young person rather than their parent, ensuring that as part of the planning process they identify the relevant people who should be involved and how to involve them. Most young people will continue to want, or need, their parents and other family members to remain involved in discussions and decisions about their future. Some young people, possibly some parents, will not have the mental Capacity to make certain decisions or express their views. At this point the provision of advocacy should be considered.
The Children (Guernsey & Alderney) Law 2008 impose upon the States a duty to provide services to any child in need to promote the upbringing of the child by the child's family, and to prevent the child becoming a child at risk.
This should be followed by providing children and young people with information, advice and support relating to their SEN or disability, and transition, including matters relating to health and social care. This information, advice and support should be provided through a dedicated and easily identifiable service. Information, advice and support services should be impartial, confidential and accessible and should have the capacity to handle face-to-face, telephone and electronic enquiries. State Committees must take steps to make these services known to children and young people / their parents, head teachers, teaching staff and post 16 facilities, and others where appropriate.
Advocacy services must be available to young people going through the transition phase.
The Local Offer must include details of how information, advice and support related to SEN and disabilities can be accessed and how it is resourced. It must also include a short breaks duty statement giving details of the local range of services and how they can be accessed, including any eligibility criteria.
Children and young people should be involved in the design or commissioning of services providing information, advice and support.
The States of Guernsey has a responsibility to develop and publish a Local Offer setting out the support they expect to be available for local children and young people aged 0-18 with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care Plan. States Committees must consult locally on what provision the Local Offer should contain.
The States Committees should involve children and young people in developing and reviewing the Local Offer.
The Local Offer should be widely accessible via the States of Guernsey website. The Local Offer should include information about:
- Special educational, health and social care provision for children and young people with SEN or disabilities – this should include online and blended learning;
- Support and provision that 19- to 25-year-olds with SEN can access regardless of whether they have an Education, Health and Care Plans;
- Arrangements for identifying and assessing children and young people’s SEN – this should include arrangements for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments;
- Details of how parents and children and young people can request an Assessment of Need:
- How the States Committees will consider a request for an assessment and inform parents and young people of their decision;
- How parents and children and young people will be involved in the assessment process;
- What support is available to help families during the needs assessment processes and the development of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC);
- The timescales involved in the assessment processes;
- The processes for making an Education, Health and Care Plan;
- Education provision and post-16 education and training provision;
- Apprenticeships, traineeships and supported internships;
- Information about provision to assist in preparing young people for adulthood;
- Arrangements for travel to and from education institutions;
- Support to help young people move between phases of education;
- Sources of information, advice and support in the area relating to SEN and disabilities;
- Childcare, including suitable provision for disabled children and those with SEN;
- Leisure activities;
- Support available to young people in higher education; Arrangements for resolving disagreements and for mediation, and details about making complaints;
- Parents’ and young people’s rights to appeal a decision in respect of SEN and provision;
The Local Offer should cover:
- Support available to all children and young people with SEN or disabilities from universal services such as schools and GPs;
- Targeted services for children and young people with SEN or disabilities who require additional short-term support over and above that provided routinely as part of universal services;
- Specialist services for children and young people with SEN or disabilities who require specialised, longer term support.
The Local Offer must include provision in the Bailiwick, and also provision outside of the Bailiwick that the States of Guernsey expects is likely to be used by children and young people with SEN for whom they are responsible and disabled children and young people. This could, for example, be provision in a school or further education college out of jurisdiction or support services for children and young people with particular types of SEN that are provided jointly by off island services. It should include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex SEN.
The States of Guernsey must keep its Local Offer under review. It must publish at least annually a summary of comments received about the Local Offer, its response to the comments, and details of the action they intend to take.
An Assessment of Need is an assessment undertaken by Children and Family Community Services of the health and care needs of a child or young person aged 0-18 with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities to determine whether it is necessary to make provision for those needs in accordance with an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Where a professional has concerns about a child or young person and believes an Assessment of Need is required, they can make a referral to the Resource Allocation Panel (RAP). Following this referral being submitted a Panel of Health, Education and Social Care representatives will determine if such an assessment is required. The Panel must give its reasons where it decides not to proceed.
Children and Family Community Services must consult the child/young person/parent throughout the process of the assessment. As far as possible, there should be a ‘tell us once’ approach to sharing information during the assessment and planning process so that families and young people do not have to repeat the same information to different agencies, or different practitioners and services within each agency. It must be discussed with the child/young person/parents what information they are happy for the service to share with other agencies. A record should be made of what information can be shared and with whom.
Where particular services are assessed as being needed, their provision should be delivered and should not be delayed until the Education, Health and Care Plan is complete.
An Education, Health and Care Plan details the education, health and social care support that is to be provided to a child or young person aged 0-18 who has Special Educational Needs or a disability.
An Education, Health and Care Plan will include the following:
- The views, interests and aspirations of the child/young person;
- The child/young person’s Special Educational Needs (SEN)The child/young person’s health needs which are related to their SEN;
- The child/young person’s social care needs which are related to their SEN or to a disability;
- The outcomes sought for the child/young person. This should include outcomes for adult life. The Plan should also identify the arrangements for the setting of shorter term targets by the education or training provider;
- The special educational provision required by the child/young person;
- Any health provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child/young person having SEN. Where an Individual Health Care Plan is made for them, that plan should be included;
- Any other social care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child/young person having SEN. This will include any adult social care provision being provided to meet a young person’s eligible needs (through a care and support plan);
- The name and type of the education institution to be attended by the child/young person;
- The advice and information gathered during the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment must be attached.
In addition, the Plan must include the provision required by the young person to assist in preparation for adulthood and independent living, for example, support for finding employment, housing or for participation in society.
Children and Family Community Services must send the draft Education, Health and Care Plan (including the appendices containing the advice and information gathered during the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment) to the child/young person/parent and give them at least 15 days to give views and make representations on the content.
When changes to the draft Plan are suggested by the child/young person/parent and agreed, the draft plan should be amended and issued as the final Education, Health and Care Plan as quickly as possible. If Children and Family Community Services wishes to make other changes it must re-issue the draft Education, Health and Care Plan to the child/young person/parent. The final Education, Health and Care Plan should be signed and dated by Children and Family Community Services officer responsible for signing off the final plan.
Where changes suggested by the child/young person/parent are not agreed, Children and Family Community Services may still proceed to issue the final Education, Health and Care Plan.
- The whole process of the Assessment of Need Assessment and the development of the Education, Health and Care Plan must take no more than 20 weeks;
- Children and Family Community Services must give their decision in response to any request for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which the child/young person was brought to the local authority’s attention;
- When Children and Family Community Services request information as part of the needs assessment process, those supplying the information must respond in a timely manner and within a maximum of 6 weeks from the date of the request;
- If Children and Family Community Services decides, following an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment, not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan, it must inform the child/young person/parent within a maximum of 16 weeks from the request for a needs assessment;
- The child/young person/parent must be given 15 calendar days to consider and provide views on a draft Education, Health and Care Plan and ask for a particular school or other institution to be named in it.
Exemptions apply where:
- Appointments with people from whom the local authority has requested information are missed by the child/young person;
- The child/young person is absent from the area for a period of at least 4 weeks;
- Exceptional personal circumstances affect the child/young person; and
- The educational institution is closed for at least 4 weeks, which may delay the submission of information from the school or other institution.
The child/young person/parent should be informed if exemptions apply so that they are aware of, and understand, the reason for any delays. All remaining elements of the process must be completed within their prescribed periods, regardless of whether exemptions have delayed earlier elements.
Where a child/young person moves out of jurisdiction, Children and Family Community Services must transfer the Education, Health and Care Plan to the ‘new’ authority on the day of the move. Where Children and Family Community Services has not been provided with 15 working days’ notice of the move, they must transfer the Plan within 15 working days beginning with the day on which it did become aware.
The requirement for the child/young person to attend the educational institution specified in the Education, Health and Care Plan continues after the transfer. However, where attendance would be impractical, the new authority must place the child/ young person temporarily at an appropriate educational institution until the Plan is formally amended. The new authority may not decline to pay the fees or otherwise maintain the child at an independent or non-maintained special school or a boarding school named in an Education, Health and Care Plan unless and until they have amended the Plan.
The new authority may, on the transfer of the Education, Health and Care Plan, bring forward the arrangements for the review of the plan, and may conduct a new Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment as required in the UK regardless of when the previous needs assessment took place. The new authority must tell the child/young person/parent, within six weeks of the date of transfer, when they will review the plan and whether they propose to make a needs assessment.
The new authority may, on the transfer of the Education, Health and Care Plan, bring forward the arrangements for the review of the plan, and may conduct a new Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment regardless of when the previous needs assessment took place. The new authority must tell the child/ young person/parent, within 6 weeks of the date of transfer, when they will review the plan and whether they propose to make a needs assessment.
The new authority must review the plan before one of the following deadlines, whichever is the later:
- Within 12 months of the plan being made or being previously reviewed by the old authority; or
- Within 3 months of the plan being transferred.
Where children/young people move between local authority areas while they are being assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan, the new authority should decide whether it needs to carry out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (using the information already gathered) and it must decide whether to do so if it receives a request from the child/ young person/parent.
Education, Health and Care Plans should be used to actively monitor the progress of children/young people towards their outcomes and longer term aspirations. They must be reviewed as a minimum every 12 months. The local authority's decision following the review meeting must be notified to the child/ young person/parent within 4 weeks of the review meeting.
Reviews must focus on the child/young person's progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the Plan, and whether these outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate.
Reviews should also:
- Gather and assess information so that it can be used by education settings to support the child/young person's progress and their access to teaching and learning;
- Review the special educational provision made for the child/ young person to ensure it is being effective in ensuring access to teaching and learning and good progress;
- Review the health and social care provision made for the child/ young person and its effectiveness in ensuring good progress towards outcomes;
- Consider the continuing appropriateness of the Plan in the light of the child/ young person's progress during the previous year or changed circumstances and whether changes are required including any changes to outcomes, enhanced provision, change of educational establishment or whether the Plan should be discontinued;
- Set new interim targets for the coming year and where appropriate, agree new outcomes;
- Review any interim targets set by the education provider;
- Review any transition plan that is in place.
Reviews must be undertaken in partnership with the young person/parent and must take account of their views, wishes and feelings.
Professionals across education, health and care must co-operate with local authorities during reviews.
For Children in Care the annual review should, if possible and appropriate, coincide with one of the reviews in their care plan and in particular the personal education plan (PEP) element of the care plan.
For disabled children who are likely to have needs when they turn 18, then adult social care must undertake a transitions assessment if it considers it will benefit the individual in them doing so. This is even if the child is not receiving any current services.
The assessment is expected to identify what outcomes the service user wants to achieve, what their needs are in the present and what they are likely to be when they turn 18. Advice and information must also be provided about what services exist to either support needs or to reduce them – this includes information on resources deemed as being outside 'formal' services.
If adult social care deem that an assessment is not required, then this must be put in writing to the service user, and information about local advice services provided.
When an assessment takes place, adult social care is expected to produce a care and support plan at its conclusion, that the young person or adult carer has been closely involved in formulating in order to achieve their identified outcomes. This plan will have to be reviewed at regular intervals.
It is recognised that there are likely to be several agencies involved in a young person’s or carer’s life. Therefore, there is a responsibility and exception that cooperation will take place ensuring that all the correct people work together to get the transition right. This allows for multiple assessments by different agencies to be combined to save assessment after assessment from having to take place.
Similarly, a young person's care and support plan could easily become part of an Education, Health and Care Plan, if the young person already has one.
Further details are outlined in Section 11, Transitions from Children's to Adults' Services.
Where a Child in Care is being assessed for SEN it is vital to take account of information set out in their Care Plan. SEN professionals must work closely with other relevant professionals involved in the child's life to ensure that the child's Education, Health and Care Plan works in harmony with their Care Plan and adds to, but does not duplicate, information about how education, health and care needs will be met.
The assessment must be carried out by the authority where the child lives (i.e. is ordinarily resident), which may not be the same as the placing authority if the child is placed out to jurisdiction. If a disagreement arises, the authority that looks after the child, will act as the ‘corporate parent’ in any disagreement resolution.
It is the Child in Care’s social worker (in close consultation with the Virtual School Head in the authority that looks after the child) that will ultimately make any educational decision on the child’s behalf. However, the day-to-day responsibility for taking these decisions should be delegated to the carer who will advocate for the Child in Care and make appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (SEN and Disability) as necessary.
For Previous Children in Care , the SEN assessment should be aware of, and take into account, any factors relating to the child's previous ‘in care’ status that are relevant. The child's carer with parental responsibility will ultimately make any educational decision on the child’s behalf but should be offered support and guidance from the VSH who might also advocate on the child's behalf where necessary.
Once placed in a school the child's progress will be monitored and promoted by the Designated Teacher who will need to be aware of the child's ‘in care’ legal status, contact arrangements and the child's Care Plan including the level of authority delegated to the named carer.
The Designated Teacher has a wide range of responsibilities, including:
- The development and implementation of the children's PEP and ensuring all other staff in the school are aware of the plan and are working to it;
- Safeguarding;
- Ensuring children who are entitled to Premium Pupil Funding are attracting it and that it is being used to support and benefit Children in Care and Children Previously in Care Children as intended and this is reflected in the PEP;
- Advising and supporting teachers and other school staff in whole school approaches that enable Children in Care and Children Previously in Care Children to thrive and achieve;
- Promoting positive home and school links;
- Monitoring the children's progress against their peers.
For a child in a stable, long-term foster placement it may well be appropriate for the carer to take on the responsibility of managing a Personal Budget but this will need careful case-by-case consideration.
Children’s services must continue to be provided until adult provision has started or a decision is made that the young person’s needs do not meet the eligibility criteria for adult care and support following a Transition assessment.
The transition from children’s to adult services should take place at a time that is appropriate for the individual. This is particularly important where young people’s assessed needs do not meet eligibility criteria for adult services. Transition to adult services for those with EHC plans should begin at an appropriate annual review and in many cases should be a staged process over several months or years.
Where young people aged 18 or over continue to have an agreed EHC plan , and they make the move to adult care and support, the care and support aspects of the EHC plan will be provided by Adult Disability Services and education as appropriate and mutually agreed..
As good practice all young people going through the transition process should have access to independent advocacy.
The Local Offer must include relevant information and advice on local provision and how to receive an assessment for transition to adult care and support.
Where the young person is over 18, the care element of the Education, Health and Care Plan will usually be provided by adult services. However, where it will benefit a young person with an Education, Health and Care Plan, Children and Family Community Service may continue to provide children’s services past a young person’s 18th birthday for as long as is deemed necessary. This can continue until the Education, Health and Care Plan is no longer maintained or by mutual agreement.
Children and Family Community Services and key stakeholders should work together to ensure effective and well supported transition arrangements are in place; that assessment, planning and review processes for both Care Plans, Transition Plans and Education, Health and Care Plans are aligned; plans are person-centered; that there is effective integration with health services, and that there is a good range of universal provision for inclusion in the Local Offer. Young people and their families should not be expected to repeatedly provide duplicate information to different services, or to attend numerous reviews, or receive support that is not co-ordinated and joined up.
Transitions Assessments for adult care or support should consider:
- Current needs for care and support;
- Whether the young person is likely to have needs for care and support after they turn 18; and
- What are their desired outcomes?
- If so, what those needs are likely to be and which are likely to be eligible needs.
Transitions Assessments can be combined with other assessments, or where other agencies are involved and doing their own assessment, they can be undertaken jointly.
Having carried out a transition assessment, adult social care must give an indication of which needs are likely to be regarded as eligible needs so the young person understands the care and support they are likely to receive once children’s services cease. Where a young person’s needs are not eligible for adult services, adult social care should provide information and advice about how those needs may be met and the provision and support that young people can access in their local area.
Children and Family Community Services and adult social care and other relevant partners should consider building on a transition assessment to create a person-centred transition plan that sets out the information in the assessment, along with a plan for the transition to adult care and support, including key milestones for achieving the young person or carer’s desired outcomes.
In the case of care leavers with disabilities, the Staying Put Guidance states that Children and Family Community Services may choose to extend foster placements beyond the age of 18. All local authorities must have a Staying Put policy to ensure transition from care to independence and adulthood that is similar for care leavers to that which most young people experience, and is based on need and not on age alone.
Children and Family Community Services may cease to maintain an Education, Health and Care Plan for a child/young person only if:
- The Service is no longer responsible for the child/ young person; or
- The Service determines that it is no longer necessary for the plan to be maintained.
‘No longer necessary’ can include where the child/ young person no longer requires the special educational provision specified in the Education, Health and Care Plan. When deciding whether a young person aged 19 or over no longer needs the special educational provision specified in the Plan, Children and Family Community Service must take account of whether the education or training outcomes specified in the Education, Health and Care Plan have been achieved.
The circumstances where a local authority is ‘no longer responsible’ for the young person include:
- A young person aged 16 or over leaves education to take up paid employment (including employment with training but excluding apprenticeships);
- The young person enters higher education;
- A young person aged 18 or over leaves education and no longer wishes to engage in further learning;
- The child or young person has moved out of jurisdiction.
Where a child/ young person of compulsory school or participation age – i.e. under the age of 18 – is excluded from their education or training setting or leaves voluntarily, the local authority must not cease their Education, Health and Care Plan, unless it decides that it is no longer necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child/young person in accordance with an Education, Health and Care Plan. The focus of support should be to re-engage the child/young person in education or training as soon as possible and the local authority must review the Plan and amend it as appropriate to ensure that the child/ young person continues to receive education or training.
Where a young person aged 18 or over leaves education or training before the end of their course, Children and Family Community Services should not cease to maintain the Education, Health and Care Plan unless it has reviewed the Plan to determine whether the young person wishes to return to education or training, either at the educational institution specified in the Plan or elsewhere. If the young person does wish to return to education or training, and Children and Family Community Services thinks it is appropriate, then the local authority should amend the Education, Health and Care Plan as necessary and maintain the Plan. The local authority should seek to re-engage the young person in education or training as soon as possible.
Where Children and Family Community Services is considering ceasing to maintain a child/ young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan it should:
- Inform the child/ young person/parent that it is considering this and consult with them;
- Consult the education institution named in the Education, Health and Care Plan.
Where, following the consultation, Children and Family Community Services decides to cease to maintain the Education, Health and Care Plan, it should notify the child/ young person/parent, the institution and key stakeholders named in the Education, Health and Care Plan. Children and Family Community Services should also notify the child/ young person/parent of their right to make a complaint about that decision and the time limit for doing so.
Where a young person aged 18 or over is in receipt of adult services, Children and Family Community Services should ensure that adult services are involved in and made aware of the decision to cease the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Where the care part of an Education, Health and Care Plan is provided by adult services because the person is 18 or over, the Care Plan will remain in place when the other elements of the Education, Health and Care Plan cease. There will be no requirement for the young person to be re-assessed at this point, unless there is reason to re-assess him or her for health and social care because their circumstances have changed.
Where the young person/parent disagrees with the decision to cease their Education, Health and Care Plan, they may choose to make a formal complaint Children and Family Community Services and other key stakeholders may continue to maintain the Education, Health and Care Plan until the time has passed for bringing an appeal or making a complaint, when an appeal/complaint has been registered, until it has been concluded.
Where a young person is also a young carer Children and Family Community Services should also carry out a child in need assessment in a manner which is appropriate and proportionate to the needs and circumstances of the young carer to whom it relates.
The assessment needs to take into account:
- The young carer's age, understanding and family circumstances;
- The wishes, feelings and preferences of the young carer;
- Any differences of opinion between the young carer, the young carer's parents and the person cared for, with respect to the care which the young carer provides (or intends to provide); and
- The outcomes the young carer seeks from the assessment.
Before the assessment starts the local authority must provide the following people with clear information about the manner and form of the assessment, in order to enable the young person to participate with it as fully as possible:
- The young carer;
- The person cared for;
- The young carer's parents;
- Any other person whom the young carer or a parent of the young carer requests should participate in the assessment.
The assessment must determine the following:
- The amount, nature and type of care which the young carer provides (or intends to provide);
- The extent to which this care is (or will be) relied upon by the family, including the wider family, to maintain the well-being of the person cared for;
- Members of the extended family or friends, and how they can contribute to any identified outcomes;
- Whether the care which the young carer provides (or intends to provide) impacts on the young carer's well-being, education and development;
- Whether any of the tasks which the young carer is performing (or intends to perform) when providing care are excessive or inappropriate for the young carer to perform having regard to all the circumstances, and in particular the carer's age, gender, wishes and feelings;
- Whether any of the young carer's needs for support could be prevented by providing services to:
- The person cared for; or
- Another member of the young carer's family;
- What the young carer's needs for support would be likely to be if the carer were relieved of part or all of the tasks the young carer performs (or intends to perform) when providing care;
- Whether any other assessment of the needs for support of the young carer or the person cared for has been carried out;
- Whether the young carer is a child in need;
- Any actions to be taken as a result of the assessment;
- The arrangements for a future review.
Furthermore, Children and Family Community Services should consider the impact of the needs of the young carer’s family on the well-being of the young carer and any child in that family and, in particular, on their education and personal and emotional development.
Children and Family Community Services should both take into account the outcome of any other assessment already undertaken in regard to the young carer, the person cared for or a member of the young carer’s family, as well as combine a child in need assessment with any other assessment being undertaken.
The following should be available for resolution of disputes:
- Local authorities may make available independent arrangements for:
- Disagreement resolution arrangements for disagreements across special educational provision, and health and care provision in relation to Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans;
- Independent mediation arrangements which parents and young people can use before deciding whether to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability) ('the Tribunal') and for health and social care complaints in relation to EHC plans.
- The Complaints Procedure.
Services for the provision of Dispute Resolution Arrangements and Mediation Arrangements, whilst commissioned by it, should be independent of Children and Family Community Services and Education – no-one who is directly employed by these services should provide the services.
Disagreement resolution arrangements apply more widely. They cover all children and young people with SEN (not just those who are being assessed for or have an Education, Health and Care Plan), and a range of disagreements, including any aspect of SEN provision, health and social care provision, disagreements during the processes related to Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans, and disagreements between health providers and local authorities. Disagreement resolution services are voluntary and can be used at any time, if both parties agree.
DfE/DHSC Send Resources - a range of resources to support the work on special educational needs and disability (SEND).
Care and Support Statutory Guidance (GOV.UK), Statutory guidance to support local authorities implement the Care Act 2014.
Children and Young People's Continuing Care National Framework (DHSC 2016) - The process for assessing, deciding and agreeing continuing care for children with complex health needs.
The Young Carers (Needs Assessment) Regulations (March 2015)
Carers UK - resources and information on young carers (including assessment tools)
Last Updated: November 25, 2025
v83
You can translate the content of this page by selecting a language in the select box.
Copyright © tri.x