EHCP requests hit new high as SEND Review consultation extended

Requests for education, health and care plans (EHCPs) reached a new high last year, according to data from the Department for Education (DfE). Initial requests for EHCPs rose to 93,302 in 2021, up from 75,951 the year before. This is the highest figure recorded since records began in 2016. The highest previous figure had been 82,329 in 2019, but initial requests dropped during the pandemic. The total number of plans overall also rose, standing at 473,255 in 2021, up 9.9 per cent from 430,697 in 2020. Children of compulsory school age account for over two thirds of EHCPs (EHCPs replaced learning difficulty assessments for children in further education in 2014). More than two fifths (40.5 per cent) of children with EHCPs are now in mainstream education, up from 39.9 in 2020. The proportion in special schools dropped from 35.8 per cent to 34.8 per cent.

Decisions on whether to grant an EHCP application are taken by the local authority (LA). The percentage of initial requests which were refused saw a small increase, to 22.3 per cent in 2021 compared to 21.6 per cent in 2020. This still sits below the 22.8 per cent recorded in 2019. Where an EHCP is refused, parents can choose to go to both mediation, and then subsequently to first-tier tribunal. In 2021 cases of mediation were up to 5097 from 4135 the year before. Cases continuing to tribunal also saw a small numerical increase, from 1104 to 1302. However this represented a slight drop in percentage terms, from 27 per cent in 2020 to 26 per cent in 2021. LAs should make a decision on issuing an EHCP within 20 weeks of the request, but in 2021 just 59.9 per cent were completed withing this timescale. This was still a slight increase from 58 per cent the year before.

The DfE’s recently published SEND Review made a number of proposals in relation to EHCPs, including that mediation would become mandatory in cases of dispute. It also proposes that new standardised, digital EHCP templates be introduced to reduce bureaucracy and variations between LAs. Mandating the use of local multi-agency panels to improve parental confidence in the EHCP needs assessment process is also suggested. Due to a delay in producing accessible versions of the document, the deadline for responses to the SEND review consultation has recently been extended by three weeks to 22 July 2022.

Commenting on the latest data on EHCPs, Kevin Courtney of the National Education Union commented: ‘The latest release…..shows that the government do not have a plan to support children and young people with high level special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)’. He also said the government needed to increase resources for local authorities so that they could support schools to provide education for SEND pupils and fulfil their statutory duties to them, adding ‘Parents of SEND children are crying out for this government to tackle this crisis in provision. Every year the Government delays fundamental change is another year children with SEND fail to get the support they need.’

Full ECHP data release: https://tinyurl.com/mkkucesy