Letter: respond to a draft plan

Send this when the Local Authority has sent you a draft EHC plan and you want to comment on it and ask for changes, especially to Section F, the support your child will actually get. This is one of your most important windows. The law gives you at least 15 days from the day the draft is sent to comment and to ask for a particular school.

Section F matters most, because the Local Authority has a legal duty to deliver whatever is written there. Vague wording is hard to enforce, so ask for support that is specific and quantified: who provides it, how often, for how long. This applies in England; check your nation if elsewhere. This is information, not legal advice.

Here is the template.

To: [LA SEN TEAM EMAIL]. Date: [DATE]. Dear [NAME OR “SEN Team”].

Comments on the draft EHC plan for [CHILD’S NAME]. Child’s name: [CHILD’S FULL NAME]. Date of birth: [DD/MM/YYYY]. Your reference: [REFERENCE NUMBER]. Date draft received: [DATE].

Thank you for the draft EHC plan dated [DATE]. I am writing within the 15-day period to give my comments and request changes. I welcome that the plan recognises [SOMETHING POSITIVE]. However, I have concerns set out below.

Section B (my child’s special educational needs): The description does not include [CHILD’S NAME]’s difficulties with [X]. Please add: [SUGGESTED WORDING]. This matters because the support in Section F must address every need listed in Section B.

Section F (special educational provision): The current wording is too vague to be deliverable. Where it says “[CURRENT VAGUE WORDING, e.g. access to speech and language support]”, please change it to “[SPECIFIC WORDING, e.g. weekly 1:1 speech and language therapy for 30 minutes, delivered by a qualified speech and language therapist, for 38 weeks a year]”. Where it says “[CURRENT VAGUE WORDING, e.g. some adult support]”, please change it to “[SPECIFIC WORDING, e.g. 1:1 teaching assistant support for X hours per day]”. Please also add provision to meet [NAMED NEED], for example “[SUGGESTED WORDING]”.

I am asking for this level of detail because you have a legal duty to secure the provision in Section F, and that duty can only be met if the provision is clear enough to be delivered and checked.

[IF RELEVANT: I do not think the plan reflects the report from [NAMED PROFESSIONAL] dated [DATE]. Please explain how Section F gives effect to those recommendations, or amend it so that it does.]

Please confirm the changes you will make. If you do not agree to a change, please tell me which one and why. Yours faithfully, [YOUR FULL NAME], parent of [CHILD’S NAME].