Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what safeguards will be put in place for children and young people who, following a review at a transition point, move from an Education, Health and Care Plan to an Individual Support Plan.

Under our proposals, where children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan move to the new system, we will have several safeguards in place. Our transition approach is intended to balance the need to minimise disruption, ensuring children and young people benefit from an improved system.

We will provide support to families, settings and local authorities ahead of implementation, investing over £500 million each year from now until 2029 to ensure the new system is ready to support this cohort.

We are also investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from key services and health and education practitioners.

For children and young people who transition away from support via an EHC plan, their families will be able to express a preference for a mainstream setting of their choice for the start of their next education phase. We will also ensure that an Individual Support Plan is in place, developed with families, and for them to access provision in the universal and targeted layers once their EHC plan has ceased before an EHC plan is ceased. We are also investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from key services and health and education practitioners.

We have recently consulted on our proposed reforms and will confirm final decision and further information regarding transition arrangements in due course.