We have the draft EHC plan, and there is a therapy we would like to have included in section F. Can a particular therapy be included in an EHC plan if it is not available from the local health service?

The answer to this question will firstly depend on whether the therapy should be treated as a special educational provision.  

Section 21(5) of the Children and Families Act 2014 says that “health care or social care provision which educates or trains a child or young person is to be treated as special education provision (instead of health care provision or social care provision)”. This means that if the provision educates or trains your child (so teaches them to do something rather than doing something for them), then it must be treated as special educational provision and specified in section F of your child’s EHC plan. It would then be your local authority (LA) (rather than the health service) who must provide the therapy. 

It is very important to check the related special educational need (SEN) is contained in section B of the EHC plan. This is because the law says that if a child’s SEN are identified in Section B of the EHC plan, special educational provision to meet these needs has to be specified in Section F.  Paragraph 9.69 of the SEN and Disability Code of Practice 2015 states, “Provision must be specified [in section F] for each and every need specified in section B”. If all of your child’s SEN do not appear in section B, you should raise this with your LA.   

If the therapy is special educational provision, then the only relevant issue is whether your child requires this therapy in order to meet their individual needs, not whether it is available locally.   

If the local health service cannot provide a particular therapy that your child requires, the LA will have to secure that provision from elsewhere, such as from a private therapist.  

If the therapy is a health provision and not a special educational provision, then the correct section of the EHC plan for it to be specified would be section G. This would mean that the health service has a legal duty to secure the provision, rather than the LA.  

You can find more information on our page about what an EHC plan contains. Case law has confirmed when therapies should be classed as special educational provision and included in section F of an EHC plan.