Education Health and Care Needs Assessment and Annual Review timeliness – March 2024 update

Dear parents and carers,

I am writing to provide an update to families, parents, and carers in relation to our progress and priorities around Education, Health and Care needs assessment and annual review timeliness, as well as our recovery plan to address the delays and challenges in the system.

Firstly, I'd like to reiterate that making improvements in this area remains a key priority for the Council, our teams and myself as interim Director of Education and Lifelong Learning. Tim Oliver, Council Leader, referred to our recovery work as 'absolutely central to our ambition that no one is left behind' in a Full Council meeting on 18 March. Setting out clearly that although we recognise that there is more work to be done to get to where we want and need to be, our commitment remains. You can watch a recording of the Leader's speech on the Surrey County Council website.

I recognise that not all families will feel we have done enough or are working quickly enough to make changes, and in some cases that the frustration felt is being exacerbated by a lack of timely updates. I want to reassure you that we are continuing to work hard, invest in resources and expect you to feel the positive impacts of more of that effort in the coming weeks and months.

In addition, I want to highlight that we have already seen good progress against our three aims - to reduce long waiting times, provide better support while waiting, and secure a long-term sustainable model for completion of assessments – and outline some of that in this update.

Waiting times

Education, Health and Care Need Assessments (EHCNAs)

We have taken proactive steps in the last year to counteract the national challenges in availability of Educational Psychologists (EPs), which has in turn impacted timeliness of EHCNA. These actions, including agreeing additional investment to enable us to increase EP capacity within the county, have now allowed EPs to undertake work in relation to the backlog of overdue EHCNAs. This means that now, almost all of those children and young people who had been waiting longer than the statutory period of six weeks for an EP assessment as part of an EHCNA have now had their assessment, or have one scheduled to take place. This is a significant step in our recovery programme, and in turn will positively impact timeliness of the completion of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

As a result of this improved position, please note that the temporary offer to accept private EP advice commissioned by parents, carers or education settings as the sole psychological advice for EHCNAs will end on 15 April 2024. Please note that any privately commissioned assessments already in motion must be sent to the SEND Case Officer by 15 April to be considered for reimbursement.

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) teams are now fully staffed and working hard to complete the statutory assessment process, supported by a recovery team of 30 case officers. The teams have issued almost double the number of EHCPs each month compared with this time last year, with a total of 188 plans issued in February. It is important to note that these are generally being competed outside the statutory 20-week timescale for EHCPs, so we recognise there is still further progress to be made here.

Annual Reviews

The SEND teams, alongside a dedicated annual review recovery team, are also hard at work ensuring that the annual review actions required by the local authority are completed. This involves either issuing a 'no change letter' or a revised EHCP, following the annual review meetings held by schools and settings. Over 2,300 reviews have been completed and the teams are now ensuring that all overdue annual review actions are completed by the end of May 2024.

Better support whilst waiting

One of our key objectives is to ensure that children and young people are supported while we complete our recovery work. Our Specialist Teachers for Inclusive Practice (STIPs) have played a key role in providing advice to schools so that children and families awaiting an overdue needs assessment are able to access support to better meet their needs. Over 150 schools were visited last term and meetings have been taking place throughout the spring term to continue this support where needed.

We know from feedback that this STIPs support is proving incredibly valuable for teachers and in turn benefiting students. Schools have told us that "the suggested strategies given to support SEND students is having a real impact" and that "resources given are useful for all pupils not just the ones I've referred". This work will be continuing into the summer term.

We are also offering Enhanced Communication and Language training support, providing targeted support for schools to increase their skills and confidence to meet the additional needs of children requiring speech and language support. Schools have been signing up to develop the skills of their staff, which will in turn have a positive impact on children's experiences.

Post 16 Key Stage Transfers

For those of you with older children, you will be aware that the statutory deadline for issuing final EHCPs for young people over 16 years moving to a new key stage placement from September 2024 is approaching (31 March). We are currently working hard to secure placements for all young people with an EHCP who will be moving key stage. Teams will be updating relevant young people and their parents and carers directly on progress.

We will issue a further update on post 16 key stage transfers via the Local Offer after the deadline, but in the meantime, you may find the Moving from school to college page on the Local Offer helpful.

Local Area SEND Inspection and Improvement Plan: building a more sustainable model

The progress reported above reflects the findings of the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) Local Area SEND Inspection in Surrey (published in November 2023). Where inspectors found that although there is more work to be done, "there is ambition for children and young people with SEND in Surrey" and that "Leaders have identified the areas that they need to improve" and "have put in place important actions that are starting to make a difference".

Earlier this year the Additional Needs and Disabilities Partnership published an Improvement Plan specifically addressing the areas of improvement identified by inspectors and building on the existing Surrey's Inclusion and Additional Needs Partnership Strategy (2023 to 2026), which was published in January 2023.

Both the Strategy and Improvement Plan support the Additional Needs and Disabilities Partnership's commitment to enabling Surrey's children and young people aged 0 to 25 with additional needs and / or disabilities to lead the best possible life. Delivery of both will enable us to continue to make improvements for families and move towards securing a long-term sustainable model for the completion of assessments and issuing of EHCPs and annual reviews.

Stay informed: sign up for our new email updates

I know that the additional needs and disabilities system is complex and can be difficult to navigate, so I'd like to share two key ways to stay informed.

Firstly, Surrey's Local Offer is the hub for information and guidance for everything related to children and young people with additional needs and disabilities age 0-25 years. You can find the latest updates on our Local Offer website and social media accounts:

Secondly, we are launching a new termly update for families of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities, and the practitioners who help them. These updates will provide news and information about children's additional needs and disabilities, and details of support services available in Surrey, direct to your inbox.

To receive these email updates, fill in this sign-up form and click the subscribe button.

Get involved

We know we don't yet have everything right, and your input as families is so vital in shaping services that meet your needs. There are a number of ways we are working with families to develop the services we offer, and I'd encourage you to please get involved if you haven't already.

Visit Get involved – Surrey Local Offer for details of opportunities for children and young people, and for parents and carers, to share your views and get involved. Including through our User Voice and Participation groups, ATLAS (a group specifically for those with additional needs and disabilities), and Family Voice Surrey (Surrey's parent carer forum).

Best wishes,

Dr Julia Katherine

Interim Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, Surrey County Council