Only half of children receive EHCP within the legal timeframe

New data from the Department for Education shows nearly half of children waited beyond the legal deadline for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) last year. Legally the whole process of EHC needs assessment and EHCP development, from the point when an assessment is requested (or a child or young person is brought to the local authority’s attention) until any final EHCP is issued, must take no more than 20 weeks (with exceptions in certain situations). However, excluding where exceptions applied, in 2022 just 50.7 per cent of new EHCPs were issued within 20 weeks - down from 59.9 per cent in 2021.

Meanwhile the total number of children and young people with EHCPs increased to 517,000, up by 9 per cent from 2022. The total has increased each year since 2010, and has now gone above half a million for the first time. The number of new EHCPs in the 2022 calendar year was 66,400, up by 7 per cent from 2021. The number of new EHCPs has increased each year since they were introduced in 2014.

There were 114,500 initial requests for an EHCP during 2022, up by 23 per cent from 93,300 in 2021. Again initial requests have increased each year since EHCPs were introduced, apart from a dip in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Data on special educational needs and disability tribunals (SENDIST), through which parents can appeal local authority decisions about EHCPs, was also published. At the end of March 2023 there were 5574 outstanding tribunals, up from 3,324 a year previously and an increase of 68 per cent. Separate data released last week shows that the number of teaching assistants in schools now stands at 281,100, up 27 per cent from 221,500 when figures were first gathered in 2010/11. This increase is thought to have been driven both by an overall increase in pupil numbers and higher levels of need, correlating with the increase in EHCPs.

The full EHCP data can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/5cru7dmd