Q26. What factors should LAs take into account in proposing to parents and young people a list of potential settings to name on a plan?

The context: The principle of ‘presumption to mainstream’ will be retained so that local authorities (LAs) will still have a strong duty to secure a mainstream place for children with an EHCP if requested. LAs will provide parents with a list of settings able to provide the Specialist Provision Package identified for the child, and parents will be able to choose any of these settings or express a preference for an alternative setting which can deliver the Package. Effectiveness, value for money and the needs of other children in the setting will be considered in making decisions about preferences. Parents will still be able to appeal to Tribunal if they disagree with a placement decision, but the Tribunal will no longer decide on the placement – instead they can request that the Local Authority reconsiders the placement decision. (N.B. this change to the Tribunal’s powers is not being consulted on as part of this consultation).

In your answer, you may want to consider:

• There are no reassurances that there will be several settings in the local area which can offer each Specialist Provision Package. If only one setting can offer the identified Package then there will effectively be no choice of setting.
• The proposal risks reducing parental choice to a question purely of whether a setting can or cannot deliver the Specialist Support Package identified. This ignores other considerations, including locality of the setting, the ability of the setting to meet the child’s social and emotional needs, the ethos of the setting (e.g. faith schools), the setting attended by a child’s siblings, etc.