Agenda item

To consider the final report and recommendations of the committee’s working group on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP’s).

(Report to follow)

The Chairman introduced and presented the report of the committee’s EHCP Working Group. The working group was established in October 2024, following the committee raising concerns about the timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). She outlined the processes that the working group took to investigate the issues. This included establishing an inquiry day, followed by further meetings with parents of children with an EHCP, and with NHS representatives. The Chairman thanked everyone who took part in giving evidence to the working group and thanked the panel members for their involvement. The Chairman outlined the recommendations in the report.

The Executive Director for Children’s Services responded to the report and made the following points:

·         He believed that there should be more nuance in the report, particularly around what parents say, because not all parents give the same feedback.

·         He did not believe that council’s rate of tribunals were high.

·         Many of the issues captured in the report reflected national issues, which was caused by a system which was not financially sustainable, leading to children’s experiences not improving.

·         The council’s performance in the percentage of EHCP’s issued within 20 weeks had improved from 22% in September 2025 to 54% in March 2026. There was an aspiration for issuing all EHCP’s within 20 weeks, but this was not likely to be achieved.

·         It was a professional decision by the Executive Director for the working group to not speak directly with children. However he offered working group an opportunity to work with the Youth Voice team, which was not accepted by the working group.

The Chairman responded to the Executive Director for Children’s Services. She agreed that there should have been more context in the report with regards to national issues, however the report reflected the evidence the working group received. The working group wanted the best outcomes for Dorset children and felt that most issues that were raised were caused by communication.

Members of the committee asked questions discussed the report. The following points were raised through the questions and discussion:

·         A member noted that children who had an EHCP were not afraid to express their opinions.

·         Good improvements had been made over the past several months, but was progress slowing down? The Executive Director for Children’s Services responded that progress was due to remodelling the locality model to increase capacity, although the full change had not been made yet. Using AI in EHCP’s was also being introduced which created improvements in other local authorities, therefore further improvements to timeliness were anticipated.

·         In response to a question about the form of communication the council receives from families, the Executive Director explained this often included written, legal, or challenging communication to him. All families had a named caseworker and communication with the caseworker would take a variety of forms. A phone line with booked appointments had been trialled in a locality and had very limited take up. 

·         Dorset Council could make its own improvements to communication, however was the council limited due to communication improvements also being needed in the NHS? The Place Director for Dorset, representing the Integrated Care Board, accepted their part in needing to make improvements to communication. He also explained that changes were being made around waiting lists and the processes for assessing it.

·         During the 20 weeks to issue an EHCP, it could be very challenging to complete all the administration, organisation, and getting the responses required from organisations to contribute to the EHCP. It could also be challenging to respond to some frequent communication from some families.

·         At 20 weeks, it was the end of the beginning for children with an EHCP. It was good that schools were being recognised as the front line, which was critical for meaningful improvement.

The Executive Director for Children’s Services commented on the Schools White Paper. He explained that the white paper had caused some anxiety for parents, however it had been quite well received by most parties involved. The council had received notification that it would receive some Government funding for creating an ‘expert at hand service’ in mainstream provision. The Council would develop a SEND Reform Plan which would set out how the council would use the funding.

Proposed by Cllr J Somper, seconded by Cllr C Jones.

Upon being put to the vote, the committee unanimously agreed the report and recommendations and that they be submitted to Cabinet for response.

Decision:

That the report and recommendations be agreed and submitted to Cabinet for a response.