New SEND Code of Practice and transition guidance

The SEND Code of Practice was approved by Parliament on 29 July 2014 and comes into effect on 1 September 2014.

Key changes from the ‘old’ SEN Code of Practice 2001 are:

• The 2014 Code of Practice covers the 0-25 age range
• There is clearer focus on the views of children and young people
• There is more focus on the role of children and young people in decision making
• There is guidance on the joint planning and commissioning of services to ensure close co-operation between education, health and social care
• Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans will replace Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs)
• There is more focus on outcomes
• Young people and parents will have a right to ask the local authority to prepare a personal budget once it has confirmed that it will prepare an EHC plan.

The transition guidance sets out further information on how the Department of Education will support the transition to the new system of support for children and young people with special educational needs.  The guidance is an updated version of that issued in June and reflects the decisions made by Ministers in light of feedback from key interested parties following consultation. In order to not overwhelm the new system, the requirement on local authorities has been reduced in 2014/15.