Issue - meetings

To show the position at the end of June 2023 with regard to EHCP timeliness, an area identified for improvement. The report focuses on the data, the capacity and resources to undertake timely statutory assessments, and the process improvements that will facilitate this.

Witnesses:

Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning

Rachael Wardell, Executive Director – Children, Families and Learning (CFL)

Liz Mills, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

Tracey Sanders, Assistant Director – Inclusion & Additional Needs SW

Julia Katherine, Assistant Director – Inclusion & Additional Needs NE

Sarah Carrington, Headteacher of Stoughton Infant and Nursery School, a member of Learning Partners Academy Trust

Anna Dawson, Family Voice Surrey Epsom and Ewell Coordinator

Leanne Henderson, Family Voice Surrey Participation Manager

Key points made in the discussion:

1. The Cabinet Member apologised that timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) was not yet as good as it should be and said the Leader of the Council had confirmed their commitment to improving in this area. As part of the Phase Two Recovery Plan, she would ask for additional resources for Educational Psychologists (EPs) and SEND case workers at the July Cabinet meeting in order to address the backlog. The recovery plan is based on the assumption more resources are granted by Cabinet.

2. The Family Voice Surrey Epsom and Ewell Coordinator described feeling stressed and impotent as a communications protocol agreed at a stage two complaint was not adhered to and her child was still without an EHCP on entering secondary school after waiting nine months to see an EP.

3. The Headteacher of Stoughton Infant and Nursery School said the school had dealt with six different case workers this year. She described seeing a rise in anxiety and ADHD since Covid and an increase in inappropriate and challenging behaviour from children whom the school did not have the funds to properly support as demand surpassed the SEN notional budget, resulting in suspensions in infant school for the first time. She was frustrated to see available specialist infant provision unfilled because children were waiting for plans. She explained children were removed from the waiting list to see paediatrics at age five and there was then a 10-month gap before they could be referred to MindWorks. The Headteacher noted positive steps by the Council to improve communication with her school.

4. A Member asked what support was being offered to schools when EHCPs were not delivered within the legal 20-week time limit, giving the example of the Earlswood Federation whose governors said they had calculated a £32,000 EHCP provision deficit. The Assistant Director for Inclusion & Additional Needs NE acknowledged the impact on schools and parents. She said they want to ensure children have the right support whether or not there was a plan in place, and their Specialist Teachers for Inclusive Practice (STIP) team contacted schools where delays were encountered. The Director for Education and Lifelong Learning added that they took their statutory duty seriously and in addition planned this summer to make the Local Offer website more accessible and transparent so schools and families understood the support available while waiting for an assessment. The Member suggested schools needed more funding. The Executive Director for CFL explained that funding for provision identified in an EHCP comes from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30