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27
May
Council to spend £480,000 on new SEND assessment system
North Yorkshire Council is set to spend £480,000 upgrading its systems to deal with increased demand for children waiting to be assessed for places in specialist schools.
The council said it continues to see an increase in the number of Education, Health and Care Plans — the legal documents that set out the tailored support a child needs — being submitted to the authority.
In recent years, a sharp increase in demand for EHCPs has resulted in a backlog that the council has struggled to tackle.
As a result, the council’s Conservative-ruled executive will decide today (May 27) whether to spend £480,000 on a new digital system to help deal with the increased demand.
A report before senior councillors said:
The number of children and young people assessed as requiring an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has continued to rise. This has resulted in pressure on SEN assessment statutory timescales which currently use multiple systems and involves collaboration with a number of partners as well as parents and carers.
The service have explored opportunities to improve the processes through technology.
It added:
The aim is to better manage the increasing demand through timely compliance with statutory processes, improve the customer experience, and support the co-production of EHCPs.
The funding is expected to come from the council’s reserves to fund the project.
The Stray Ferret has covered the matter extensively with interviews with families with SEND children and the political fallout from the increased demand. You can read our latest articles here and here.
Demand for EHCPs has rocketed in recent years, and there is a growing backlog of children waiting to be assessed for places in specialist schools.
In September 2024, we reported that the council had sought to nearly double the number of educational psychologists it employs in order to address the issue.
The extent of the crisis is such that Richard Flinton, chief executive of the council, told the Stray Ferret that he felt the system was “broken”.
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