Little Nellies. EHCP and SEND advocacy, England
We do not provide false hope. We provide evidence that wins.
Councils do not say yes to parents. They say yes to evidence. We build it: the request that cannot be waved away, the response the council has to answer, the bundle it reads before it decides whether a hearing is worth its time. We currently have twenty SEND Tribunal appeals listed for hearing. Every one that has reached the hearing stage has been conceded by the council before the day.
Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice in England. Fixed fees including VAT. Hearing fees only if the hearing happens. Record as at 8 September 2026.
At a glance
Who it is for
Parents and carers of children and young people up to 25, and the SENCOs and professionals who refer them
Where
England only. Welsh families are supported by Nellie Supports under the ALN system
Fees
Fixed, including VAT, on every service page. £168 an hour for anything outside a fixed scope
Who delivers
SEN experts on the advocacy; registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist on the assessment
How to start
A free 15-minute call to confirm your stage, your deadline and the right service
Why we work this way
Why we work this way
Nobody here will tell you it will be fine. What we will tell you is what the council must do, by when, and what it takes to make them do it. The EHCP process is paperwork with deadlines, and most of the deadlines are the council's. We are very good at paperwork with deadlines.
We are not solicitors and we do not pretend to be. We are a permanent team inside a social work practice who write everything down, so the authority is on record from the first letter, and who build the evidence councils concede to rather than the arguments they ignore. If a stage can be done with free help, we say so. If a case needs a solicitor, we say that too.
The fee is fixed and includes VAT. The person on the first call is the person who does the work. You will never be surprised by an invoice, and you will never be told what you want to hear. Ben Slater, Founder and Principal Social Worker, registered with Social Work England.
How the fee tells you we mean it
A fixed fee, including VAT, before we start; if the work takes longer than we planned, we absorb it. One practitioner for the whole case; the person on the first call is the person at the review. Everything in writing, with a note after every step so the council is on record. And the hearing fee is only charged if the hearing happens. So far, no council has taken one of our appeals all the way.
Where are you right now?
Every stage has a clock on it. Pick the sentence that fits and we will show you the deadline and the service.
Starting out
3 services
Requesting an assessment and responding to the draft plan.
Evidence review
A read of every report and record you hold, with a one hour consultation, before you apply, mediate or appeal
£336 including VAT
EHCP application
The request for an EHC needs assessment turned into a structured, evidenced case, with up to 18 hours of work
£1,080 including VAT
Draft EHCP review
Line-by-line review of Sections B and F and a drafted parental response inside the fifteen-day window
£960 including VAT
When the answer is no
5 services
Refusals, mediation, the working document and the SEND Tribunal.
Refusal appeal (SEND35A and SEND35)
Appeal against a refusal to assess or a refusal to issue, from the form through evidence to case review, up to 40 hours over nine months
£3,300 including VAT
Content appeal (SEND35, Sections B, F and I)
The appeal against what the plan says, including the working document, up to 70 hours over nine months
£5,400 including VAT
SEND mediation
Application and preparation £720 including VAT; attendance £480, invoiced when the date is confirmed and not charged if no meeting takes place
£720 including VAT
Working document
For families who lodged their own appeal: the working document in three fixed tiers, scoped in writing after a look at the plan
£2,700 including VAT
Tribunal hearing representation
Representation at the hearing, 10 hours, invoiced on the hearing notice; not charged if the authority concedes first
£1,080 including VAT
Keeping the plan right
1 service
The annual review and the amended plan.
Annual review representation
Pre-meeting, attendance at the review and the written response to the amended plan or the authority's decision
£1,200 including VAT
The Evidence Pack
1 service
Primary social work assessment and placement evidence, delivered as discrete reports that comply with SEND Tribunal Practice Direction No. 1 of 2025.
EHCP Evidence Pack
Primary social work assessment and Section I placement evidence, delivered as eight discrete reports compliant with Practice Direction No. 1 of 2025
£3,600 including VAT
For parents
The local authority has its team. Now you have yours. We are here to listen, we will always be honest with you (including when the answer is not the one you hoped for) and everything we do is aimed at the right outcome for your child. You know the fixed fee before we start, one practitioner knows your child's file, and a written note after every step means you always know where the case stands.
For SENCOs, solicitors and other professionals
We work alongside the setting, not against it. You receive the full evidence, set out clearly and tied to the school's own records, so you can stand behind a plan you are confident will make a real difference for the child. Requests arrive before the meeting, together with the evidence list and a covering summary. Where a case reaches the SEND Tribunal, our evidence follows the same structure. Every point in Sections B, F and I traces back to a named source, so it is easy to rely on and difficult to challenge. We are not solicitors, and we work alongside legal representatives rather than in place of them.
Who we are
A regulated team in an unregulated market
Anyone can complete a SEND form for a fee. Little Nellies is part of Nellie Supports, a private social work practice with a permanent, in-house team. SEN experts carry the advocacy. Registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist carry the assessment work. We are not solicitors and do not give regulated legal advice; where a case needs one, we say so and work alongside them. We currently have twenty SEND Tribunal appeals listed for hearing. Every one of our appeals that has reached the hearing stage so far has been conceded by the local authority before the day. Record as at 8 September 2026.
What happens when you call
Free 15-minute call
We confirm your stage and deadline. No advice, no pressure.
Fee in writing
Scope and fee, including VAT, before anything starts.
The work
Evidence built, not collected, and written in the council's own language.
Ongoing
A written note after every step, and the same team at the annual review.
The situation
A nine-year-old with an autism diagnosis and no plan. The school had asked the authority to assess and been refused on the basis that the setting could meet need from its own resources.
The barrier
The refusal letter cited the absence of a recent educational psychology report. The family had been told, informally, that an appeal was pointless without one.
What we did
Lodged the SEND35A inside the two-month window, built the evidence list from the school's own records and the family's account, and set the case against the section 36(8) test in the working papers rather than against the authority's stated reasons.
What happened
The authority agreed to assess before the case reached a hearing, and the attendance unit was not charged. No outcome is ever guaranteed; this describes what happened on one case.
An illustrative example drawn from the pattern of instructions we receive. It does not describe an identifiable person.
In practice
In practice
Questions parents ask
Questions parents ask
Do I need a diagnosis for an EHCP?
No. The test is whether a child has or may have special educational needs and may need provision through a plan. A diagnosis can be useful evidence but it is not a legal requirement, and a refusal based only on its absence can be appealed.
How much does an EHCP advocate cost?
Our fees are fixed and include VAT: £960 for a draft plan review, £1,080 for an application, £3,300 for a refusal appeal, £5,400 for a content appeal, £3,600 for the Evidence Pack. Work outside a fixed scope is £168 an hour including VAT, agreed in writing first.
What is a working document?
The version of the plan used in a content appeal, showing each contested section, what the authority has agreed and what is still in dispute. It is how the Tribunal sees the case at a glance, and it is included in our content appeal service.
What happens if the council concedes before the hearing?
The appeal ends and the hearing attendance fee is not charged. Most refusal appeals resolve without a hearing.
Can I use IPSEA and you?
Yes. IPSEA, SOS!SEN and SENDIASS give free advice and we recommend them. What we add is doing the work for you at a fixed fee and building the evidence.
Are you solicitors?
No. We are a SEND advocacy and social work practice. We do not give regulated legal advice, and where a case needs a solicitor we say so.
How long does an appeal take?
A refusal appeal typically runs nine months from lodging to case review, with any hearing listed at eighteen to twenty-four months. Draft plan responses are due within fifteen days of the draft.
Who will actually do the work?
SEN experts carry the advocacy and registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist carry the assessment work. One practitioner stays with your case from start to finish.
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Guides
Guides for parents
Social care assessment and care planning
Independent social work assessment of a child's or family's care needs, and a care plan the authority has to answer
Mental capacity assessments
For young people from 16 where a question of capacity arises alongside the plan, and for adults
Court reports and expert assessments
Independent social work evidence for the Family Court and other proceedings
Other support
Next step
Book your free 15-minute call
Tell us where you are: what school has done, what has been said about an EHCP, and what the last letter from the council says. We confirm the stage, the deadline in play and whether this is the right service. We do not give advice on the call and we do not pressure you to buy.
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