# The Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Regulations 2006, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations 2001 (the “principal Regulations”) and apply only in relation to England.
Regulation 3 updates definitions in the principal Regulations to reflect the changes in legislation to which they refer and to define the expressions infant school, junior school and maintained special school for the purposes of provisions added by these Regulations. The changes to the definition of “relevant nursery education” and associated reference are subject to modification in accordance with regulation 20 until the Childcare Act 2006 comes into force.
Regulation 4 replaces regulation 18 of the Education (Maintained Special Schools) (England) Regulations 1999 (which is omitted by regulation 18 of these Regulations) with a new regulation 5A in the principal Regulations. The new regulation 5A provides that a pupil attending a maintained special school will attend daily collective worship and receive religious education but may be withdrawn from either in accordance with the wishes of his parent.
Regulation 6 of the principal Regulations applies when certain notices have been sent to the parents of a child indicating that the local education authority (“authority”) are about to consider assessing the child or have decided to assess the child. When the regulation applies the authority must serve a copy of the notice on various other persons (including for example the head teacher of a school at which the child is registered) and must set out what assistance the authority are likely to require. Regulation 5 of these regulations amends regulation 6 of the principal Regulations to clarify the circumstances when the copy notice must be sent where the authority have decided to make an assessment under section 323 of the Education Act 1996 or at the request of a responsible body under section 329A of that Act.
Regulation 6 amends regulation 8 of the principal Regulations to make it clearer that advice must be sought by an authority making an assessment of a child from a person responsible for his educational provision if advice cannot be obtained from the persons mentioned in regulation 8(1)(b) of the principal Regulations (a head teacher or person with general special educational needs experience or knowledge).
Regulation 12 of the principal Regulations provides for time limits for serving statutory notices served under sections 323(1) and 329A of the Education Act 1996. Regulation 7 amends regulation 12 of the principal Regulations to assist the reader by reminding him of the statutory time limit set by the periods specified in the notices themselves.
Regulation 8 replaces regulation 19 of the Education (Maintained Special Schools) (England) Regulations 1999 (which is omitted by regulation 18 of these Regulations) with a new regulation 12A in the principal Regulations. The new regulation 12A provides for the circumstances when a child without a statement of special educational needs (“statement”) may be admitted to a maintained special school.
Regulation 19 of the principal Regulations provides that where a child with a statement is within twelve calendar months of moving from certain phases of education to certain others, the authority responsible for his statement must ensure that, before 15th February in the year of the transfer, his statement names the school or other institution he will be attending following the transfer. Regulation 10 adds the transfer between infant school and junior school phases to the phases covered.
Regulation 11 amends regulation 23 of the principal Regulations to impose a fifteen working day time limit on transferring statements where a child has moved from the area of one authority to another beginning with the day on which the authority, from whose area the child has moved, is informed of the move.
Regulation 12 amends regulation 24 of the principal Regulations which deals with circumstances in which statements may be disclosed. Regulation 12 amends regulation 24 to update references to school inspectors and adds a provision allowing statements to be shared with Secure Training Centres for the purpose of carrying out their educational functions.
Regulation 25 of the principal Regulations deals with time limits for compliance with orders of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Regulation 13 amends that regulation where the Tribunal orders that the authority must make an assessment under sections 323(4) or 329A(7) of the Education Act 1996. It makes it clear that the notice informing the parent that the assessment is to be made must be served within four weeks.
Regulation 13 amends regulation 25 of the principal Regulations in relation to three other possible Tribunal orders:
(a) where the Tribunal orders the authority to make and maintain a statement, the time limit is now five weeks to issue a proposed statement rather than to make a statement; and
(b) where an authority is ordered to amend a statement or to continue to maintain and amend a statement the authority must (in either case) amend the statement within five weeks rather than issue an amendment notice within five weeks. (In the case of an order to continue to maintain and to amend the statement the obligation to maintain the statement applies immediately, as before.)
Regulation 13 also provides in keeping with section 336A of the Act that the date from which the periods for compliance referred to in regulation 25 of the principal Regulations commence is the date on which the order is made.
Regulation 26 of the principal Regulations deals with time limits for compliance with parents’ requests when an authority concedes an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Regulation 14 amends regulation 26 to require an authority to serve a proposed statement within five weeks rather than to make a statement within five weeks where an appeal has been conceded against a decision not to make a statement.
Regulation 14 amends regulation 26 where an authority concedes an appeal under sections 328, 329 and 329A of the Act. It makes it clear that the notice informing the parent that the assessment is to be made must be served within four weeks.
Regulation 14 amends the date from which the periods for compliance referred to in regulation 26 of the principal Regulations commence to the date on which the authority concedes the appeal. This is so that regulations 25 and 26 are consistent in relation to the outcomes of appeals which are conceded or upheld.
Regulation 15 replaces Part A of Schedule 1 to the of the principal Regulations which contains a form of notice to accompany a copy of a proposed statement or a proposed amended statement.
The substitute form of notice has been updated to specify more precisely what maintained schools are described in the list to be attached to it; to allow for the Secretary of State to indicate what list must be provided to parents of non-maintained special schools and independent schools; and to allow reference to a list indicated by the National Assembly for Wales (for a similar purpose). The new notice updates reference to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and its address.
Regulation 16 replaces Part B of Schedule 1 of the principal Regulations which contains a form of notice to accompany an amendment notice.
The substitute form of notice has similar amendments to update it as the new notice introduced by regulation 15.
Regulation 17 amends regulation 16 of the principal Regulations to specify what information and advice must be appended to a statement of special educational needs and makes consequential amendments to the form of statement of special educational needs in Schedule 2 of the principal Regulations.
Regulation 18 omits regulations 18 and 19 of the Education (Maintained Special Schools) (England) Regulations 1999. Those regulations are respectively replaced by the new regulations 5A and 12A inserted into the principal Regulations by regulations 4 and 8.
Regulation 19 makes transitional provisions. It provides that the obligation introduced by regulation 10, that is to amend by 15th February in any calendar year the statements of children transferring between infant and junior school, only applies to children transferring between those phases in the calendar year 2008 and later. This is so that upon the date these Regulations come into force, authorities do not find themselves in breach of regulation 19 for not having named by 15th February 2007 the schools children transferring between those phases will be attending in 2007.
Regulation 19(2) makes savings for orders of the Tribunal and parental appeals to the Tribunal treated as having been determined in favour of the parent making them before these Regulations come into force. Those orders and appeal determinations will be treated according to the principal Regulations as they had effect before amended by these Regulations.
Regulation 19(3) provides that the changes to the appendices and format of statements prescribed by regulation 17 apply only to statements made or amended after the date these regulations come into force so that these changes are introduced manageably over time.
Regulation 20 sets out modifications to these Regulations which apply while paragraph 23 of Schedule 2 to the Childcare Act 2006 are not in force in England. The modifications are that the definitional change of the term “relevant nursery education” to “relevant early years education” and alteration in statutory reference to the definition of relevant early years education do not occur until paragraph 23 comes into force.
A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/3346/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/education-special-educational-needs-england-consolidation-amendment-regulations-2006/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.