Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to secure the necessary approvals and delegated authority for Educational Psychology (EP) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) capacity to be expanded at pace, enabling the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) timeliness to be improved to an acceptable level as quickly as possible. This report provides a high-level overview of the accelerated EHCP Timeliness Recovery Plan and sets out the rationale for the recommendations for approval to procure.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee)

N.B There is a Part 2 report at Item 21.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet gives approval to procure additional Educational Psychology service capacity and Special Educational Needs service capacity up to the aggregate contract value of £15m over 3 years between 2023/24 and 2026/27.

2.    That Cabinet approves the delegation of contract award decisions to the Executive Director for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources.

Reasons for Decisions:

• The timely completion of Education, Health and Care needs assessments and annual reviews (collectively referred to as EHCP Timeliness throughout this report) makes an important contribution to ensuring that children and young people with additional needs and disabilities receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

• The EHCP Timeliness Recovery Plan is being accelerated to address the current significant delays and approvals are required to avoid delays in procuring services and allocating funding and resources. There is an urgent need to retain existing capacity and secure additional flexible capacity in the Council’s Educational Psychology (EP) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) services to improve the timeliness of these services at pace.

• Approval of the recommendations in this report will have multiple benefits, the most important being an improvement in the experience of families and outcomes of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities undergoing an EHC needs assessment or awaiting an annual review.

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Education and Learning who explained that Cabinet was being asked to approve the procurement for additional Educational Psychology service capacity and Special Educational Needs service capacity to improve Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) timeliness. It was explained that timeliness of completing assessments in 2021 was 65% of plans issued within 20 weeks and was stable until Spring term 2022 with a marginal decline. However, in the summer term 2022 timeliness began to drop more rapidly. This led to overall cumulative timeliness for plans completed during the 2022 calendar year in Surrey falling to 26%. The council was committed to supporting young people with Special Educational Needs and their families. The Cabinet Member explained that EHCPs had to be reviewed by educational psychologists and the lack of these meant a delay in plan completion. The Leader stated that the additional funding would help clear the backlog of EHCPs and the council recognised the service was not where it needed to be.

The Chairman of the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee spoke on the report welcoming the recommendations. The Select Committee recognised that EHCP timeliness was poor and negatively impacting young people and their families. The council was ranked 128/152 for EHCP timeliness and urgent action needed to be taken. The Select Committee endorsed additional funding but urged Cabinet to ensure additional funding came from reserves and not efficiencies from other parts of the service. The Leader confirmed additional funding would not come from efficiencies in the service.

Mark Nuti left the meeting 15:30 and returned at 15:34.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet gives approval to procure additional Educational Psychology service capacity and Special Educational Needs service capacity up to the aggregate contract value of £15m over 3 years between 2023/24 and 2026/27.

2.    That Cabinet approves the delegation of contract award decisions to the Executive Director for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources.

Reasons for Decisions:

• The timely completion of Education, Health and Care needs assessments and annual reviews (collectively referred to as EHCP Timeliness throughout this report) makes an important contribution to ensuring that children and young people with additional needs and disabilities receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

• The EHCP Timeliness Recovery Plan is being accelerated to address the current significant delays and approvals are required to avoid delays in procuring services and allocating funding and resources. There is an urgent need to retain existing capacity and secure additional flexible capacity in the Council’s Educational Psychology (EP) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) services to improve the timeliness of these services at pace.

• Approval of the recommendations in this report will have multiple benefits, the most important being an improvement in the experience of families and outcomes of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities undergoing an EHC needs assessment or awaiting an annual review.