Parent challenges Hertfordshire County Council over education plan targets

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A parent’s bid to challenge the way Hertfordshire County Council deals with applications for Education Health and Care Plans has been turned down.

Education, Health and Care Plans – or EHCPs – are legal documents that identify a child’s educational, health and care needs, as well as specifying any particular provision or support they require.

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

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But, like councils across the country, Hertfordshire has been failing to meet the 20-week deadline in all cases – with latest data showing that between January to September last year (2024) just 56 per cent of EHCPs were completed on time.

Hertfordshire County CouncilHertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council

Crucially the concerned parent had highlighted council documents suggesting officers had set a ‘target’ of meeting the 20-week time-scale in 60 per cent of cases.

And he had lodged an appeal for a Judicial Review that would consider whether – or not – the council was acting outside the law, by setting a target that was lower than the statutory expectation.

In response the council has argued that the references to 60 per cent had been an “interim milestone target”.

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And now the parent has revealed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that his application for a Judicial Review has been turned down.

The parent has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that – with ‘targets’ driving focus and resources – he had been keen that the figure had been restored to 100 per cent.

But according to the county council the ‘interim milestones’ are designed to enable the council and the Department for Education to check on progress.

And, in a statement issued to the Local Democracy Reporting Service it stresses it has always been its intention to complete ALL assessments within the statutory time-frame.

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“We have always been clear that our intention is to complete 100 per cent of EHC needs assessments within the statutory limit of 20 weeks, and that the interim milestones are purely to allow us, and the Department for Education, to check we are making progress towards this goal,” says a statement issued by Hertfordshire County Council.

“We are continuing to work to improve our statutory SEND delivery and have a comprehensive plan in place which is independently monitored, including an additional ongoing £7million investment into statutory SEND services to recruit and train more staff, and creating more than 750 additional special school places since 2018,

“We are committed to working in partnership with young people, parents, carers, the NHS and schools to ensure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve amid unprecedented demand for these services.”

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