Hertfordshire SEND support in 'crisis' as Hemel mum compares system to an 'abusive relationship'

The education, health and care plan system in Hertfordshire is in crisis, parents have said

One Hemel Hempstead mum has spoken out about how she and her husband had to give up their hobbies to home-school their daughter who lives with anxiety and autism – while another compared her fight for support for her daughter to “being in an abusive relationship”.

There are currently more than 7,000 education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in place in Hertfordshire.

EHCPs are supposed to learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) access classes, courses, training and therapies to help them in their school careers and beyond.

Hertfordshire County Council is responsible for identifying and assessing children’s special educational needs.

But Emma from Hemel Hempstead said she and her husband have had to give up their hobbies to home-school Jessica, their daughter who lives with anxiety and autism.

“Jessica’s EHCP was issued in June 2021 following a tribunal,” she explained. “Her plan has never been reviewed.”

Jessica withdrew from formal education in September 2021, but by the start of the following school year, she began to show an interest in going back to school.

It took a further four months before Hertfordshire County Council’s Home Education Team to step in, at Emma’s request.

“Home educating has been tough,” Emma said.

“I don’t regret making the decision as it was what Jess needed, but it has been tough. I’ve still worked throughout and I’ve had to give up hobbies to be able to educate her. We’ve had no support until now, so all care has been on myself and my husband – 24/7.”

According to a Westminster government code of practice, local authorities “must review [EHCPs] as a minimum every 12 months”.

But a Freedom of Information request by the LDRS reveals that – out of the 2,403 Hertfordshire EHCPs for under 18s which were 12 months old or older at the end of the 2022 summer holiday – 49 per cent of them had not been reviewed for at least a year.

The council also surveyed 6,457 plans which were in place at a “snapshot” point in the 2021/22 academic year.

More than 4,260 of these plans were reviewed at some point in that year, but a third – 2,194 plans – were not.

The council’s SEND department recorded 318 complaints throughout the year, although not all of these would relate to the EHCP system.

‘The whole experience is similar to an abusive relationship’

Another mother from Hemel Hempstead set up a fake email address to contact the LDRS – under a pseudonym taken from her child’s cuddly toy.

The LDRS was able to verify her real identity, but she feared unveiling her name would lead to repercussions.

“I am at the very beginning of the EHCP process,” she explained.

“I have had to fight to get my daughter the support and education she needs to have a normal life.

“I am worried if I am named, Hertfordshire County Council will make life harder for me.

“The whole experience has been horrific and similar to an abusive relationship.”

Marijke Miles, chair of the National Union of Headteachers’ SEND sector council, said it is not just Hertfordshire which is facing a “crisis”.

Ms Miles said: “This is a serious issue across the country. It reflects the unsustainable pressure being put upon overworked school staff who review the plans, the under-capacity specialist services which feed into them, and ultimately, the local authorities responsible for updating them.

“Local authorities have faced a big increase in numbers of EHC plans, due to both the pandemic and the extension of plans until the age of 25 back in 2014.

“At the same time, councils are struggling to recruit and retain staff crucial to the process like educational psychologists and case workers, a situation compounded by the stress staff face.

“As a result there is a heavy reliance on agency staff in some areas.

“Some children with SEND have not had their plan substantially updated for consecutive years due to the erosion of local authority capacity.

“This is completely unacceptable.

“The government has consulted on extending deadlines, but that doesn’t address the root cause of the problem – namely the chronic lack of funding for the entire system, which means many children and families are being badly let down.”

County council ‘is listening’, spokesperson says

The Freedom of Information request revealed the number of EHCPs held by under 18s leapt by nine per cent between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years – from 6,587 to 7,177.

“We are listening to families, and we understand their frustrations,” a Hertfordshire County Council spokesman said.

“We are committed to making sure that young people and their families receive the support they need and deserve, and we work in partnership with young people, parents and schools to achieve that end.

“We know how important this is to families and we share their desire to see every child achieve success in all areas of life.

“In common with many local authorities, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in requests for specialist provision, with a 47 per cent increase in pupils with education health and care plans (EHCPs) since 2019, as well as the additional challenges since the pandemic.

“We are working hard to meet this additional need, but this is a nationwide pressure and there is a shortage of specialist provision that makes it hard to meet everyone’s needs.

“Because of this, we are investing over £50million over the next three years to ensure we have the right provision in the county to meet the future needs of all our pupils with SEND in Hertfordshire.

“We are committed to creating more than 300 new permanent special school places, and we are creating a network of specialist resource provisions in mainstream schools to help children with speech, language, communication and autism to reach their full potential whilst being part of their local school community.

“We have also increased the funding available through EHCPs by more than £16million over the last three years to support children with SEND in accessing mainstream education.

“We are committed to offering the right support, at the right time, in the right place, to deliver our ambitious plans for supporting children and young people with SEND in Hertfordshire.”

The council’s SEND website is here.