Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are vital support packages for children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities. They ensure young people receive the all-round support packages they need.
Top-tier Council’s (Counties, Unitary, MBCs and LBCs) have a legal duty to provide EHCPs for children and young people in their authority area – working with other partners such as schools and health care providers. There is a statutory obligation to produce an EHCP within 20 weeks of it being formally requested and required.
Last year only half of EHCPs across England were produced on time. Performance across local authorities varies significantly with some council’s failing to meet their duty in the vast majority of cases.
The number of EHCP requests has increased year on year since they were introduced in 2014. Last year the number of EHCP requests increased by 20% on the previous year. The number of new plans which started in 2023 increased by over 25% compared from 2022. You can find official stats here.
The demand has put enormous pressure on councils to produce EHCPs in a timely fashion. As demand has risen funding has stagnated meaning resources are stretched. An EHCP costs approximately £6000. Children and families are being left waiting for the support they need. 98% of appeals against EHCP decisions are successful.
Using the most recent statistics for each top-tier local authority in England we have produced a template Council Motion calling for extra resources from the Government to aid the timely preparation of EHCPs – as called for by the Liberal Democrats nationally.
Check the table below to see how your top-tier council performs in meeting the 20 week target.
The full motions can be copied below. Use the statistics provided to localise it for your area:
This Council recognises the importance of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities. Where they are necessary, EHCPs ensure young people receive the all-round support packages they need.
The number of EHCP requests made to **COUNCIL NAME** has risen sharply over recent years, while funding from Government has stagnated. This has led to capacity issues within the council, schools and other partners to produce timely EHCP assessments and plans.
This is a major issue across the country. In England roughly half of EHCPs produced last year were not done so within the 20 week timeframe that is legally required. This has left thousands of young people and their families waiting too long for urgent support and interventions.
In **AREA NAME** just XX% of EHCPs were produced on time last year.
Council also notes over 13,000 appeals were made against EHCP decisions in England last year – and 98% of these were successful. These tribunals cost local councils a combined £60 million and caused stress and uncertainty for vulnerable young people and their parents and carers.
Council believes inadequate funding and resources is preventing the production of timely and effective EHCPs across the country. Each EHCP costs thousands of pounds to produce. As a result schools and councils are struggling to meet the increasing number of referrals.
Council supports the calls made by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey MP to create a new national body to champion young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and to make an extra £300 million available to councils and schools to support the production care plans.
Council resolves to:
- Write to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the creation of a National Champion for SEND children and a £300 million funding boost for the production of EHCPs – as called for by the Liberal Democrats.
- Undertake a urgent scrutiny review into the provision of EHCPs in COUNCIL NAME, identifying key areas in which SEND support can be improved for local children, young people and their families. Included in this should be a comprehensive survey of parents, carers and young people with an EHCP, as well as key partners such as school headteachers, to gather detailed information on how the process can be improved.