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The county council has not completed 60% of outstanding care plans for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) within the 20 week time limit, according to figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request. Data from October 10 shows that four children have been waiting since 2022 to receive an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which describes a child's educational, health and care needs and the support they will receive to achieve their ambitions. Additionally, some 399 of the 2,027 EHCPs awaiting completion were requested in 2023.
READ MORE: Additional £9.1m needed for SEND services in Suffolk Figures obtained via FOI show that Suffolk County Council was not completing 60% of EHCPs within the 20 week time limit (Image: Archant) However, the council has also completed substantially more EHCPs this financial year - 1,241 in 2023/24 compared to just 756 in 2022/23. There have also been a high number of completions during the last seven months, with the figure for July - 216 - representing the largest number in a single month since January 2023.
Legally, local authorities have a 20 week time limit in which to create a finalised EHCP from an initial needs assessment. READ MORE: OFSTED says Suffolk is failing children with special needs This newspaper has previously reported how the Suffolk parents of SEND children felt "let down" by the county council's service. Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council's cabinet member responsible for SEND and education, said the council was making progress in completing EHCPs on time (Image: Newsquest) In February parents reported a catalogue of failings and felt they were being "ignored," following a report by education watchdog Ofsted which criticised "widespread and/or systemic failings" in the Suffolk local area partnership.
Responding to the figures, councillor Andrew Reid, cabinet member for Education and SEND at Suffolk County Council, said: “The timeliness of completing EHCPs has been a top focus over the last year and it is clear from our figures that we are making progress. "In September 2024 we were producing 20% of EHCPs in 20 weeks compared to 3% in October 2023. READ MORE: Suffolk SEND parents' anger as Ofsted turns down meeting "However, we recognise that we still have a long way to go and our work to maintain momentum continues at pace.
“Like other local authorities, we are hindered by a national shortage of education psychologists. "This has resulted in us not being able to keep up with a growing demand for psychological advice and information. “To address this, we have recently invested £1.
6 million to strengthen our recruitment and availability of education psychologists. "This includes working with private psychologists – we currently have 100 on our books – and utilising assistant or trainee psychologists to help with plans when it is appropriate to do so. "We have 27 education psychologists employed by Suffolk County Council, with four recruited in September.
READ MORE: Mum hoped council "would do everything" for Harry Biggs “We also continue to recruit more SEND staff to help complete assessments and issue quality plans in a timely way – so far, we’ve welcomed over 60 new people, with a further 32 to come. “It has been widely publicised that SEND services operate within a broken and crumbling national system. "The funding we receive has not kept pace with demand, so the system is under enormous strain.
We continue to lobby government on the need for urgent whole-system reform and investment and await this week’s budget.” Jenny Riddell-Carpenter said the figures exposed the deeply troubling crisis in SEND care (Image: Labour Party) Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter is championing improvements to SEND services as one of her five key priorities for Suffolk. She said: "This FOI exposes the deeply troubling crisis that Special Educational Needs in Suffolk is in.
"This comes off the back of the Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report that has highlighted how children and young people are being failed in Suffolk. READ MORE: Suffolk councillors quit after 2024 Ofsted SEND report "The figures revealed today show that despite the council and health providers launching a 'joint action plan' to address these challenges, the system is letting families and young people down. "I hear appalling stories of SEND failures day in and day out.
Thousands of families across Suffolk are affected, with young people’s lives being put on hold and their futures left in doubt whilst the council fails to deliver. "I will continue to urge the council to prioritise this issue and take immediate action to ensure that children with SEND receive the timely support they need." READ MORE: Suffolk Coastal MP asked for review of Harry Biggs' case.
