Adult Social Care Assessments for EHCP Appeals

Created: 1 April 2025

What is an EHC Plan appeal?

If parents or young people in England disagree with a local authority’s assessment of a child or young person’s education, health or care needs, or decisions made in their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan), they can appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (SEND). The process is different in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The decisions that can be appealed are;

As well as (not instead of) making decisions relating to sections B, F and I, an appeal to the tribunal can be extended to include health (sections C and G) and social care (sections D and H1 / H2). In cases where social care sections are being appealed, it is often useful to instruct a social care expert such as an independent Social Worker.

What is an adult social care assessment for an EHC Plan appeal?

The Children and Families Act 2014 makes provision for children, families and people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) aged between 0-25 years old. Typically, local authority children’s social care concerns children aged 0-18, and adult social care concerns adults aged 18 and over. Other times, local authorities have transition teams which span children and adult services and concern children and young people aged 0-25.

However a local authority structures their social care teams, before a young person (roughly speaking, a person aged 16-25) reaches the age of 18, their care and support needs must be assessed using the framework within the Care Act 2014. This is the framework used to assess the care and support needs of all adults who appear to have social care needs. The purpose of an adult social care assessment is to identify what care and support needs the person may have and what outcomes they are looking to achieve to maintain or improve their wellbeing. Wellbeing has a specific meaning within the Care Act. Local authorities must promote wellbeing when carrying out any of their care and support functions in respect of a person. This may sometimes be referred to as ‘the wellbeing principle’ because it is a guiding principle that puts wellbeing at the heart of care and support. Wellbeing is a broad concept, and it is described as relating to the following areas in particular;

The individual aspects of wellbeing or outcomes above are those which are set out in the Care Act, and are most relevant to people with care and support needs and carers. There is no hierarchy, and all should be considered of equal importance when considering ‘wellbeing’ in the round. For the avoidance of doubt, an adult social care assessment for an EHC Plan appeal uses the same assessment framework and principles for all adults including those who do not have an EHC Plan but do appear to have social care needs.

Why is an adult social care assessment for EHC Plans different?

Whilst the adult social care assessment framework is the same for EHC Plan purposes and non-EHC Plan purposes, there are some very important distinctions between the two.

First, the assessment must be laid out in such a manner that it is clear what recommendations are being made for section D of the plan (social care need) and section H2 of the plan (social care provision. It is essential that any expert report, social care or otherwise, is helpful to tribunal panels to make recommendations in relation to social care need and provision.

Second, careful consideration must be given to whether any social care provision should be treated as special educational provision and included in section F of the EHC Plan, rather than section H2. It is not correct to conclude that every social provision falls within the remit of section H2 if the provision educates or trains to such an extent it should be treated as a special educational provision. This can be a very important distinction given the tribunal’s powers to order special educational provision as opposed to making recommendations for social care provision in section H2.

Finally, the use of the term outcomes should be clearly defined. ‘Outcomes’ has different meanings within adult social care assessments and EHC plans. In adult social care assessments, outcomes are the areas of care and support by which the person is assessed against;

Conversely, outcomes within an EHC Plan are the goals by which the person’s progress is measured. They must be SMART in nature, and clearly defined to ensure progress can be measured at each annual review.

Whilst an adult social care assessment for the purposes of informing sections D, H and sometimes F of a person’s EHC Plan is based upon the framework set out in the Care Act 2014, there are important differences between an assessment for EHC Plan purposes and non-EHC Plan purposes. It is essential that any social care experts being instructed in relation to EHC Plans have a thorough knowledge of the EHC Plan process, the appeal process, social care assessments for adults and are familiar with the SEND Code of Practice.