(UK) Kirklees: Less than half of SPED plans completed on time
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Parents say children in Kirklees with special educational needs are being badly let down after it was revealed the council completed less than half the care plans it should have done.
And Kirklees Council accepts it needs to do more to improve the current system.
Statistics for 2025 just revealed by the Department for Education show that 4,509 annual reviews of EHC plans in Kirklees were expected in 2025 yet only 2,192 were recorded as completed.
This meant that almost half of special needs children – 2,136 (47.4%) – were recorded as incomplete and 643 decisions (29%) were communicated outside the statutory 4-week timeframe. . . . In terms of timelines, the local authority must decide within four weeks of the review meeting whether to maintain, amend or cease the plan and notify parents.
If amending, they must give at least 15 calendar days for representations and issue the final amended plan within eight weeks of the original amendment notice – in practice around 12 weeks total from review to final plan. Once finalised, the provision must be implemented straight away.
One mum, who asked not to be named, said: “Almost half of all children in Kirklees with an Education, Health and Care Plan did not receive their legally required annual review last year. This is not an administrative oversight, it’s a widespread breach of statutory duty under the Children and Families Act 2014. . . . ’’
Lisa Green, of Netherton, has a teenage son and daughter who both need EHC plans for autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
She said: “By law they are both meant to have an annual review every year carried out under a strict process but I can’t recall one that has ever been done compliantly.
“With my son’s last one I received an email five days before it was due to be held saying they were planning to do it without either my son or parents. . . .
A mum from Dalton, who asked not be named, said her young son had an emergency review in December after his school said it needed more funding to meet his needs.
When she hadn’t had the result of the review after 20 weeks she put in a formal complaint and not yet had a response to that.
It eventually took 28 weeks for the new plan to be done, but things are not going well for her son at his current school and he is largely now at home before starting a new school in September.
An Ofsted report last year into special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in Kirklees said improvements were needed.
Kirklees Metropolitan Council and West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) are jointly responsible for the planning and commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND in Kirklees.
Although Ofsted said some aspects of the system works well in Kirklees – especially that ICB leaders have high ambitions for children and young people with SEND – they highlighted that:
Too many annual reviews of EHC plans happen late. These reviews often miss updated views from the child, young person or family and fail to include changes recommended by professionals. These delays and omissions negatively impact outcomes and disrupt the support that children and young people receive.
The quality of children and young people’s EHC plans is too variable. Some plans are outdated and lack information from social care and health. Many do not include preparation for adulthood or show enough ambition for the child or young person’s future. . . .
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