(UK) Essex: Council admits only 1% of SPED students assessed in 20 wks; fourfold increase
- The end of childhood
- Nov 14, 2025
- 2 min read
Nov 14, 2025, BBC News: Special needs target unrealistic, says councillor
A senior councillor has said that assessing all children for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) within the legal timeframe is "not achievable".
Last year, Essex County Council admitted that just 1% of assessments were completed inside the 20-week target, which was the worst performance of any local authority in England.
Tony Ball, the council's Conservative cabinet member for education, told a committee meeting that the 1% rate was "absolutely unacceptable" but said "we were never going to get to 100%".
Education Minister Georgia Gould has told the BBC the government is working with councils to help meet targets.
"To then move from 1% to 100%, we all need to be realistic, is not achievable and we have seen that by the country's average of 46%," said Ball.
"We were never going to get to 100%" . . .
At the People and Families Policy and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday, councillors were told 27% of EHCPs were being completed in under 20 weeks. . . .
That was despite Essex County Council putting an extra £7m [$9.2M] into Send services since March 2024.
The number of EHCP requests have increased nearly fourfold compared with a decade ago.
A total of 15,437 young people have an EHCP; more than double the figure 10 years ago.
The local authority says it has opened four of five new special schools and increased places at mainstream schools.
Essex County Council has a high needs budget of £220m [$290M], which covers Send services.
Councillors heard it is set to be in deficit by £31m [$41M] this year - and if nothing changes - this is forecast to rise to £428m [$564M] by the end of the decade. . . .
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