Education, Health and Care needs assessment delays- update for settings

Introduction

The Inclusion and Additional Needs Service at Surrey County Council recognises that some Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNAs) are subject to delay, and we would like to provide an update regarding the reasons for this and our approach to reducing delays.

We know that schools and settings are working hard to support children where the needs assessment is delayed and we thank you for your support and patience while our planned improvements (described below) take effect.

We are committed to completing assessments and delivering plans within the required timeframes but there are delays following, a 64% increase in referrals (since 2020) for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. In addition to this there has been a national shortage of qualified Educational Psychologists (EPs) and other key professionals who provide advice as part of the needs assessment process, and the core educational psychology service staffing is currently at 50% capacity. In summary, there has been high demand for assessments but a reduced capacity in the teams that undertake assessment work.

We have a recovery plan in place to make improvements across the education, health and care system to ensure it is as efficient as possible. We aim to improve our timeliness to above the 2020 national level of 60% by the end of the summer term and are also aiming to complete the backlog of assessments by the end of the end of this year.

Recruitment

We are working at pace to increase our staffing capacity and have initiated a priority recruitment programme to attract more Educational Psychology staff and other professionals who contribute to the needs assessment process. We have enhanced the pay scale for educational psychologists in order to become an employer of choice and this has attracted 4 additional EPs since September 2022. We have also established 16 assistant psychologist posts, with 4 already started and the others joining us over the next term, which will enable us to manage demand in a flexible and responsive manner. The council is also providing £600K additional funding to source external EPs and investing a further £450K in the SEN staff to manage the backlog of plans and annual reviews. SEN teams are at 97% staffing levels. Health colleagues are also working on enhancing the capacity of their teams where required.

Clearer process and better communication

Following feedback from families, we are making the assessment process clearer and more streamlined for schools and families. We have worked with young people and their families to improve documentation and information request forms so that decisions about assessments can be made quickly, against clear criteria. This has helped us to make decisions to assess within 33 days, rather than the 42-day statutory period which enables us to finalise more plans on time.

We are also improving our communication with families whose needs assessments are delayed, so that they can be updated regularly, and sign posted to support where needed.

Highly vulnerable children

To protect highly vulnerable children, we are undertaking a risk-based approach to prioritising assessments where necessary. This will help ensure those that are highly vulnerable have quicker access to support and help. We will also be contacting schools to see if needs have changed while children's assessments are delayed, so that we can update our understanding of risks and help schools to access relevant advice and guidance.

Social Care Support

Since summer 2022, we have offered Social Care Needs Assessments to families who are not open to either Social Care or Early Help services. This means that families who do not meet statutory support thresholds can now access early help more readily. This also enables families to access support during the needs assessment process, if required.

Further Support

Further information on the early help available for families and the ordinarily available provision for schools, can be found on the Ordinarily available provision web page on the Local Offer website.

Since we have implemented this recovery plan, we are beginning to see an improvement in the number of plans that are being completed on time and the overall number of advices completed by the Educational Psychology service. The backlog of assessments is also reducing.

We would also like to work collaboratively with you to understand the factors behind the rise in EHC needs assessments and work with you to prevent needs escalating, therefore reducing the demand for EHC plans.

If you would like to join focus groups, which look at ways we can increase EHC plans timeliness or how to provide support earlier so that we reduce the demand for EHC plans, please contact Genet. Pooley@surreycc.gov.uk and we will let you know how you can become involved.