Hertfordshire: Council's EHCP target challenged at meeting

EHCPs are legal documents that identify a child’s educational, health and care needs, and specify any particular provision or support required.

When an application for an EHCP is made, councils have a statutory obligation to complete the process within 20 weeks.

But following an independent review,  it has emerged that Hertfordshire County Council currently aims to meet the 20-week limit in just 60 per cent cases.

And on Tuesday (July 16) that target was challenged by Liberal Democrats at a meeting of the county council.

In a Liberal Democrat motion debated by the council, it was suggested that the target should be increased in line with the statutory obligation,  which would require all EHCPs to be issued within 20 weeks.

The council was urged to consider the steps that should be taken to ensure the council achieves this.

Presenting the motion, leader of the Liberal Democrat group Cllr Steve Jarvis acknowledged the substantial efforts being made by staff in children’s services.

And he pointed to the “significant cause for optimism, driven by increased investment”, that was highlighted in the independent review.

But he pointed to a recognition that the results of the changes had not yet been completely delivered and that a sizeable cohort of families were being failed by the system.

Meanwhile, fellow Liberal Democrat Cllr Helen Campbell said it was “pretty disgraceful that that target is not currently where it should be”.

“[The target] should be 100 per cent,” she said.

“It absolutely should be 100 percent, because that is what the children of Hertfordshire deserve.

“Nobody ever says in education just do 60 per cent of attendance, just do 60 per cent of your homework,  just do 60 per cent of anything . . .

“Because that is not the message that our children should be receiving.”

But the council’s executive member for education libraries and lifelong learning Cllr Caroline Clapper stressed to the meeting that the 60 per cent target was a “milestone” and not an “endpoint”.

She indicated that “in the year to date” 54.4 per cent of EHC needs assessments were now being completed in time – compared to 37.5 per cent in 2023.

While this does not meet the statutory obligation, she said that  this was above the national average.

“Let me be clear, this target is not an end point, but a milestone on our path to compliance,” she said.

“The increasing number of EHC assessment requests present a significant challenge.

“But we are determined to meet our statutory obligations.

“Our staff are working tirelessly to address historical problems and improve the service.”

Earlier this year, council leader Cllr Richard Roberts told this newspaper that he thought it was "not likely" that improvements would mean all EHCPs being processed by the 20-week deadline.

At the meeting, Cllr Clapper said the service was ”undeniably on an improvement journey” with dedicated focus on enhancing the experience and outcomes for children and their families.

And she said the independent review had confirmed that they were working transparently and delivering improvements.

Cataloguing a number of positive changes she pointed to a reduction in the number of children waiting for speech and language assessments.

She pointed to the recruitment of an additional 116 SEND staff, and to 553 additional school places that had been created between 2018 and 2023 – with a further 211 available from September (2024).

Indicating that the Conservative group would not back the motion, she said: “These actions and improvements clearly demonstrate our commitment to enhancing  our SEN services – and ensuring that all children and young people receive the support they need.

“While the motion acknowledges the positive steps taken, it implies  that our efforts are insufficient – this is not the case.

“We have a robust SEND improvement plan backed by substantial investment and a clear commitment to transparency, governance and progress.”

And she later added: “This Conservative administration has shown a firm commitment to improving SEND services.

“The independent review validates our efforts and highlights the progress we are making.

“Supporting this motion would undermine the confidence in the strides we have taken and continue to take.”

The motion was also backed by Labour councillors, as well as Green Cllr Ben Crystall and independent Cllr Jan Maddern.

Without the votes of the council’s Conservative majority the motion was not backed by the meeting of the county council.

During the debate, leader of the Labour group Cllr Nigel Bell said it was right that the council should be seen to “not be acting unlawfully” in failing to issue all EHCPs within the statutory 20 week limit.

He supported the council’s recovery plan for SEND services and recognised it would take time for investment to lead to the right results.

But he said they needed to be clear that where there were statutory guidelines that they were followed.

Green Party Cllr Ben Crystall also welcomed the additional investment and the hard work of SEN teams.

But he said: “A target to deliver just 60 per cent of the EHCPs within the statutory time frame should not be acceptable. And we believe that the county council must recognise this and act on it.”