SEN reforms: Fewer than one in five children transferred

Figures published by the Department for Education show that since local authorities became required in September 2014 to start transferring children on SEN statements to EHC plans, a total of 44,770 children have been successfully transferred.

As of January this year, a further 182,105 children and young people were still awaiting transfer by the government-set deadline of April 2018. That means that, so far, 19.7 per cent of required transfers have taken place.

The new SEN system has been promoted by government as “simpler and more joined up”. But concerns have previously been raised about the capacity of local authorities to implement it.

The figures published by the DfE also show that fewer EHC plans are being issued within the prescribed time limit.

The SEND code of practice states that the point when an EHC assessment is requested, or a child or young person is brought to the local authority’s attention, until the final EHC plan is issued, must take no more than 20 weeks.

However, during 2015 40.8 per cent were not issued within the 20-week time limit. This compares with 35.7 per cent not being issued in time in 2014.

“The percentage of EHC plans completed within the time limit is lower than the percentage of statements issued within the time limit in previous years,” a DfE document outlining the statistics states.

“We would expect local authorities to take time to adjust to the new system, in particular, the addition of health and care elements.”

The figures also show a large regional variation in timeliness. Outer London was the best performer, with 71.1 per cent of EHC plans issued within the 20-week limit. The worst performer was the East of England, which issued 47.5 per cent of plans within 20 weeks.

The National Autistic Society said children are waiting too long to get the right education support.

"We're now a third of the way through the transition period to the new SEN system, yet less than 20 per cent of children and young people have been transferred from a statement to an EHC plan,” Catriona Moore, education policy officer at the National Autistic Society, said.
 
“Given how difficult it can be to get education, health and care services to work together, local authorities face a very challenging task.

“The government must do more to help struggling local authorities, giving them more time and resources to implement the SEN reforms, so they can meet their 20-week deadline for agreeing EHC plans.

“Children on the autism spectrum, or with other special educational needs, should not be kept waiting for essential support."

Children’s minister Edward Timpson said: “The figures published today show that the number of 19 to 25-year-olds with an EHC plan has increased, and that overall, since the introduction of our reforms, 74,000 young people with SEND now have EHC plans - clear signs that we are on track and progress is being made.

“This data will help drive our future work, ensuring that we prioritise areas for further development and investigation.

“I know there is still much more work to do to ensure these changes embed fully, and that they become routine – but we can be rightly proud of how far we have come in boosting the life chances of children and young people with SEND.”

Earlier this month the Labour Party launched a review of SEN provision, claiming that too many children are not getting the support they require.