ALN in Early Years Wales: How to Get Support for Children Under 5

Most parents assume ALN support only kicks in once a child starts school. In Wales, the statutory framework applies from birth. Getting early recognition and a formal Individual Development Plan before school starts can make an enormous difference to the provision your child receives — and knowing who is responsible for securing it matters.

The ALN Framework Starts at Age 0

The ALN Act 2018 applies to learners aged 0 to 25. For children under compulsory school age — generally under 5 — the system works differently from how it does in school, but the statutory protections are equally real.

If a child under 5 is attending a maintained nursery, the nursery is responsible for identifying ALN and preparing a school-maintained IDP, in the same way a primary school would be for an older child. The nursery ALNCo holds the same statutory responsibilities.

If a child under 5 is not in a maintained nursery — perhaps attending a private nursery or being cared for at home — the local authority is directly responsible for determining whether the child has ALN and, if so, for preparing and maintaining an LA-maintained IDP.

The LA has 12 weeks from when it first becomes aware that a child may have ALN to determine whether ALN exists and, if so, to issue the plan. This applies from as young as a few months old if a child is identified as likely to have ALN.

The Early Years ALN Lead Officer

Every local authority in Wales must designate an Early Years ALN Lead Officer (ALNLO). This is a statutory requirement under the ALN Code. The ALNLO is responsible for coordinating early identification, ensuring settings have the support they need to identify ALN, and acting as the first point of contact for families of very young children who have concerns about their child's development.

The ALNLO is distinct from the ALNCo (who works within a specific school). The ALNLO works across the LA and connects families with multi-agency support, including health services, speech and language therapy, and educational psychology.

If you have concerns about your child's development before they start school — including concerns about speech, communication, motor development, sensory responses, or behaviour — your first port of call at LA level is the Early Years ALN Lead Officer. You can contact them through your local authority's Family Information Service (FIS).

Health Professionals and the Duty to Notify

Under Chapter 9 of the ALN Code, health professionals who believe a child under compulsory school age probably has ALN have a duty to notify the local authority. This applies to health visitors, community paediatricians, speech and language therapists, and any other health practitioner who is working with the child.

This notification duty is designed to trigger early LA involvement before the child starts school. In practice, many parents find that health professionals are not routinely initiating this notification — either because they are not aware of the specific duty under the ALN Code, or because referral pathways between health and education are not well-established locally.

If your child has an identified health condition or developmental concern and has been seen by NHS health professionals, it is worth asking directly: "Has a notification been made to the local authority about potential ALN?" If the answer is no, and the health professional believes it is appropriate, you can request that they make the referral, or you can contact the LA directly yourself.

The Designated Education Clinical Lead Officer (DECLO) — a statutory role held within every Local Health Board — is responsible for coordinating the health board's functions regarding ALN, including managing the referral pathway for under-5s. If health-to-education referrals are not happening in your area, the DECLO is the right person to raise this with.

Getting an IDP Before School: Why It Matters

Securing an IDP for your child before they transition to primary school creates several practical advantages.

Continuity of provision. Transition from early years to Year 1 is a high-risk point for loss of provision. If your child already has an established IDP when they arrive at primary school, the school is obligated to continue the specified ALP from day one. Without a pre-existing IDP, primary school staff start from scratch, often taking a term or more to assess the child and produce a plan during which little formal support is in place.

Evidence base. An IDP created in the early years period captures evidence of your child's needs at a formative stage — EP assessments, therapy reports, nursery observations. This evidence base is valuable if there are disputes at primary school, because it creates a documented history showing that ALN was recognised early and what provision was specified.

LA accountability. If the LA is responsible for maintaining the IDP pre-school (because the child is under 5 and not in a maintained nursery), the LA cannot step back and leave provision entirely to the receiving school. The LA must manage the transition and ensure continuity of support.

What Counts as ALN in Early Years

The ALN threshold is the same for a 3-year-old as it is for a 15-year-old. A child has ALN if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for ALP that is "additional to, or different from" what is made generally available.

For young children, common reasons for early ALN recognition include:

• Speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) that require specialist SLT input beyond what the nursery setting can provide
• Developmental delay across multiple areas
• Sensory processing difficulties that require environmental modification or an OT-designed programme
• Physical or motor needs requiring physiotherapy or specialist equipment
• Social communication difficulties associated with autism spectrum conditions (diagnosis is not required — needs are what matter)

The "universal provision" defence applies in early years too. A nursery may argue that good quality early years practice — small groups, visual timetables, adult-to-child ratios — meets the child's needs without a statutory plan. Your response to this is the same as at any other age: evidence that what has been tried so far has not produced the expected developmental progress, and that the child requires something "additional to or different from" what all children receive.

When the Local Authority Delays Early Years ALN Recognition

The 12-week limit for LA-maintained IDP decisions is not always met. If you have formally raised concerns about your child's potential ALN and the LA has not responded within the statutory timeframe, this is a procedural failure you can escalate.

Write formally to the LA's ALN department setting out the date you first raised concerns in writing and asking for an explanation of the delay. If the LA cannot provide a satisfactory response, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) can investigate maladministration, including procedural failures around early years ALN assessments.

For early years children who are already known to health services — children with paediatric diagnoses, therapy packages, or ongoing specialist health involvement — ensuring that the health professionals are making Section 20 referrals under the ALN Act is especially important. Health-related ALP delivered by NHS staff belongs in Section 2C of the IDP, with the statutory duty and funding obligation sitting with the NHS body.

The Wales ALN Dispute Playbook includes guidance on the escalation pathway from early years through primary transition, template letters for requesting LA assessment of under-5s, and a complete IDP audit framework.

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