Education Health and Care Needs Assessment and Annual Review timeliness (June 2024 update)

Dear parents and carers,

I am writing to provide a final update to families, parents, and carers about our progress with Education, Health and Care needs assessments (EHCNA) and annual reviews within statutory timescales, and to provide information about some of our broader work in relation to children with additional needs.

We are now at the end of the work to complete the overdue Education, Health and Care needs assessments and I would like to thank families for their patience during this time. I would also like to thank settings who have worked hard to ensure children's needs are met while the assessments have been underway.

We recognise that this has been a difficult time for children, families and settings and that we still have work to do in relation to the completion of annual reviews. I want to reassure you that we remain committed to completing all Education, Health and Care needs assessments and Annual Reviews on time. We are also keen to strengthen our support for children, young people, their families and schools and I hope that the information in this letter is helpful in providing general updates and outlining support that is available.

Waiting times

Education, Health and Care Need Assessments (EHCNAs)

We have now completed over 1000 overdue Education, Health and Care needs assessments with 53% of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) issued in May 2024 being on time. This is above the 2023 national average of 50%. We are striving to improve this further over the next few months and are aiming to reach 70% of EHCNAs being completed on time by the end of the summer. We want all EHCNAs to be completed on time, but there are occasions where there will be an exception, for example when parents request that we wait to issue the EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan), or where we take over an EHCNA which is already delayed from another Local Authority, where a child moves into Surrey.

We have caught up on the backlog of Education, Health and Care needs assessments by using external educational psychologists to provide statutory advice for overdue assessments and increasing our SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) service capacity to manage the increased needs assessment when the advice was completed. The teams have worked tirelessly to do this, and we are retaining this extra staffing to ensure we have the right capacity to complete the work moving forward.

Annual Reviews of EHCPs

A child or young person's Education, Health and Care plan must be reviewed at least once every 12 months. You can find out more about the Annual Review on the Annual Review of an EHCP webpage.

Education settings such as schools and colleges are asked to hold an annual review meeting where a child or young person is on roll with them. If a child has an education other than at school package of support, then the local authority conducts the annual review meeting.

SEND case officers do not routinely attend annual review meetings but will attend for children before key stage transfer or if there is a specific circumstance that requires their attendance such as a significant change in need.

The education setting provides the SEND service with all up-to-date reports for the relevant professionals and then the SEND service determines whether a plan needs to be updated. The SEND service has four weeks after the annual review meeting to either issue a no change letter or make the necessary changes to the EHCP.

Whilst settings have largely been conducting annual review meetings on time and updating the local authority, we recognise that we have not always completed the final stage of annual reviews on time. This means that either parents have not been informed that there is no change to their child's EHCP or the EHCP has not been updated.

We understand the impact that this has upon children, families and settings where changes in an EHCP are required and are sorry for this. We are working hard to ensure that all overdue annual reviews are completed and that moving forward all children and young people have their annual review completed on time.

To deliver this we have employed additional staff in a dedicated annual review team who are working alongside the case officer in the SEND service to complete the annual review work that is outstanding. This project is not yet complete, but we are pleased to report that over 3,700 reviews have been finalised through this work.

Building an improved and sustainable SEND service

We know that our statutory SEND service has not been delivered as we would like, and we have been working hard to make a number of improvements. To help us understand where improvements are needed, we are undertaking a review of all statutory SEND processes and services in Surrey. This builds on what we already know from information already shared with us and from the outcomes of the SEND local area inspection in 2023. The improvements identified will be the focus of our actions.

We have already started work to improve our communication with families and settings. We have had some positive feedback from families who have valued the support offered from their case officer, but we also know that when settings and families have contacted us, the service has not always been as we would want.

As a result, we have introduced a SEND contact team who are available to answer calls from families and settings and can address enquiries or ensure case officers return calls. We have completed an audit of our response times to calls and emails and put in place actions to make improvements. This includes staff training across the SEND teams so that they work in a more solution-focused way with families. We have also developed an updated communications protocol internally to ensure all staff know and embed our expectations (2 days for a call back, 5 days for a response to an email).

We are aware, however, that there is further work still to be done and this is a key area of focus for us. We are aiming to be more proactive in contacting you, to reduce the need for you to call or email to receive updates. With this in mind, we may be changing the ways we use emails and make and receive calls, but we will share these with you once we have worked with our partners at Family Voice Surrey and fully tested these possible solutions.

We are also exploring ways to ensure that the service you receive is consistent and that the case officer has the most up to date information about the statutory process so that you can be kept informed.

All our service improvements are based on what we have heard from you and we have also held workshops with Family Voice Surrey – the parent carer forum, ATLAS - our children and young people forum, and a range of professionals from education settings and other services to ensure that the voices of children, young people and their families are at the core of the changes we are making. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this important work.

Early intervention and support

We have expanded our offer of support to schools in order to enhance the help that your children can receive without the need for an EHCP, where appropriate.

The Learners' Single Point of Access (LSPA) has increased its remit to include:

Supporting whole school approaches to Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA)
Hosting and attending events across Surrey to offer face to face advice and support to parents about children's additional needs.

The LSPA has appointed four new Neurodiversity (ND) Advisers who will work to build understanding in schools of how to meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people.

The LSPA is also working closely with MindWorks and Family Voice Surrey to deliver the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) national pilot to 40 Primary schools in Northwest and Southeast Surrey. You can read more about PINS on the PINS webpage.

We have increased the capacity of our Specialist Teachers for Inclusive Practice (STIP) team members who work directly with SENCOs and class teachers to provide resources and strategies to meet the additional needs of pupils in mainstream schools at an emerging stage.

Team Around the School (TAS)

Team Around the School (TAS) continues to provide support and guidance to schools. The team can support 50 school communities across Surrey at one time. Due to the success that has already been evidenced with this approach, the TAS team will continue to deliver support to schools over the next academic year. The TAS model of support is provided as a stepped approach, when schools have received the support they need, capacity becomes available for different schools to receive support.

The Enhanced Language and Communication Initiative (ELCi)

The Enhanced Language and Communication Initiative (ELCi), has been successfully rolled out to 18 schools in the first wave of the programme receiving support throughout the Spring 2024 Term. This is an evidence-based approach to support the social communication and emotional regulation of autistic preschool. Some schools will be continuing with support into the summer term alongside new schools coming on board.

EHC needs assessment update

As we continue to invest time, expertise and resources into supporting schools to meet additional needs at the earliest opportunity, we are seeing requests for EHC Needs Assessments align more closely with national averages. Where a statutory assessment is not agreed, we have strengthened our offer of help and support for families and schools to understand the reasons why. Our Family Communications Officers contact every family who have been refused an EHC Needs Assessment to explain the rationale in detail and discuss next steps. Our SEND advisers also contact the school to explain the situation, so that families and schools can work together and agree ways in which the child's needs can be best met using the information provided. Where requested, we will also be able to conduct an informal 'way forward' meeting, which provides an opportunity to explore the outcome further and resolve any concerns, wherever possible.

Sometimes, where we decide not to carry out a statutory assessment, a parent may not agree with that decision and may decide to appeal the Local Authority's (LA) decision via the SEND first-tier tribunal. Where a tribunal is registered against the LA's decision, we have robust procedures in place to support this process. We have introduced a new Mediation and Dispute Resolution team to Surrey to focus on resolving disputes at the earliest point, wherever possible. This may include discussions with parents/carers and schools and seeking further evidence from them if this is required. Where additional evidence is provided we will reconsider the LA's decision alongside all available evidence.

Key Stage Transfer (KST) update

We have seen a significant increase in demand for specialist school places as part of the Key Stage Transfer process this year. This means there are still some children waiting for a school place to be confirmed on their EHCP for the start of term in September 2024.

Our SEND admissions team and Case Officers are working as quickly as possible to secure and finalise additional placements, but we understand the concern this delay is causing some families.

We will be communicating directly with the families this affects so that they understand the impact and next steps for their child. You can find more information about the Key Stage Transfer process including FAQs is available here: The Local Offer - Key Stage Transfer.

Travel Assistance for KST

If your child is likely to require travel assistance from September 2024 and does not have a named school/setting in their EHCP, we would encourage you to apply for travel assistance as soon as your school/ setting has been confirmed and an EHCP naming the school/setting has been issued. If you would like to contact the Surrey School Travel and Assessment Team, please submit an online enquiry form located here: Online Enquiry Form. Further information regarding travel assistance is available here: Travel Assistance.

If an application is submitted after 31 July, we are unable to guarantee that travel arrangements will be in place before the start of term. However, where travel assistance is agreed, we will offer an interim travel allowance and then look to arrange appropriate transport arrangements after the start of term in September.

Keeping informed

The SEND Contact Team not only take incoming calls, but they also support where we need to make direct contact with families. For example, regular Key Stage Transfer update calls to families and calls about the EHC needs assessment process.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do contact us via your SEND case officer or the LSPA contact centre. To date, feedback from families about the Contact Team has been positive. However, we also understand that from time to time you may not wish to be contacted with updates. If you are receiving Key Stage Transfer or other regular update calls or text messages from the team, and do not wish to receive these updates, do let the LSPA contact centre know and we will make a note of your preferences.

In addition to the SEND Contact Team, there is online support and information. 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 to 25 years. You can find the latest updates on our Local Offer website and social media accounts:

We have launched 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 the 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 would encourage you to 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).

As the recovery project ends this term, this will be my final open letter specifically focusing on this work. However, I will be communicating regularly with you through the termly email update mentioned above.

Best wishes,

Dr Julia Katherine

Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, Surrey County Council (interim)

For further information and previous updates please see:

Related services

Family Voice Surrey: Parent Carer forum

SEND Advice Surrey