Earlier this year, an ITV News investigation brought renewed national attention to how children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) access the support they are entitled to. In the report, an anonymous council caseworker described a culture in which some managers allegedly encouraged staff to make it harder for families to get help — and, in her account, treated delay as a way of managing budgets.
The whistleblower alleged that staff were advised not to leave a clear paper trail: leaving phone numbers off emails, not replying fully to queries, and avoiding face-to-face meetings. She said senior colleagues would, in her words:
“joke about the ways they can deny support to children.”
These remain allegations, and they concern practice that should be properly and independently investigated. But for many families and professionals across the country, the report confirmed something they already knew: that having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) on paper does not always mean the support described in it actually reaches the child.
This is the heart of the issue. An EHCP sets out a child or young person’s needs, the outcomes being worked towards, and the provision that should be put in place to meet them. Yet a plan only makes a difference if that provision is genuinely delivered — and if the professionals and families around the child know what to look for when it isn’t.
In practice, parents, schools, health professionals, therapists, local authorities and other practitioners often each hold an important part of the picture. Better outcomes tend to come from bringing that evidence together, keeping the child or young person at the centre, and making sure that what is written into a plan — particularly the provision set out in Section F — translates into real support on the ground.
To help parents and professionals navigate this with confidence, our next free L&D Hub webinar takes a clear, practical look at the whole EHCP journey. Titled “An EHCP Is Only as Good as What Happens Next: Working Together to Improve Outcomes for Children and Young People,” the session is grounded in real-world advocacy experience and designed to be genuinely useful for busy practitioners.
It will cover knowing when to apply for an EHC Needs Assessment and how to evidence need; understanding what should happen once a plan is in place and how to check the provision is actually being delivered; preparing effectively for an Annual Review; and recognising when circumstances have changed enough to warrant an early or urgent review rather than waiting.
Delegates will leave with a simple framework they can apply in their own work along with anonymised real-world examples and a straightforward takeaway checklist.
The webinar takes place on Wednesday 4th November 2026, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, online and free to attend. Whether you work in education, children’s services, health, youth work or community settings, this is a chance to sharpen your understanding of the EHCP system and the part you can play in making sure plans deliver for the children and young people who depend on them.
Reserve your place today at ldhub.org.uk.
