June 24, 2024, Bishops Stortford Independent: Herts County Council makes ‘significant progress’ in clearing Educational Health and Care Plan backlog
Near London
Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCP) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have increased by almost a third in the past year, Hertfordshire councillors were told.
Councillors reviewed the performance of the authority’s children’s services for the fourth quarter from January to March 2024.
A report detailing the successes and challenges was analysed at a meeting of the council’s Children, Young People & Families cabinet panel on Friday, June 21.
A key area of performance was agreeing on EHCP for SEND children, which have been the subject of backlogs across the country. . . .
The report noted: “The good progress in issuing final EHCPs continued through Quarter Four with 669 finalised in the period. The position at the end of the financial year was 32% higher than in the previous year, reflecting both the challenges of issuing plans during 2022/23 and the subsequent work to reduce the backlog of overdue assessments. . . .
“Completing more of the historic cases has, at the same time, impacted the proportion of plans issued during the period in time.
“There has been strong performance throughout the quarter in completing assessments as they become due, but the issuing of historic assessments particularly between October 2023 and March 2024 has impacted overall timeliness in the quarter.”
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