We will clear SEND request backlog, vows council

The backlog of education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments in Essex will be cleared by the end of the year, a senior councillor has promised.

Sam Journet, the Reform UK cabinet member for education, SEND and skills at Essex County Council, said it would invest more money in the system to meet the target.

In 2024, the council revealed only 1% of children received an education, health and care plan (EHCP) within the 20-week statutory timeframe.

Mum-of-two Rebecca Dadds, from Colchester, said she was concerned "getting rid of the backlog" would mean the process was "rushed".

The EHCP process should take a maximum of 20 weeks from the initial request for an assessment, to the final plan being issued.

It is a legally-binding document setting out the support children need up to the age of 25.

Requests for an assessment in Essex rose from 4,011 in 2022-23, to 4,572 in 2024-25.

In March this year, the previous Conservative administration said it would spend an extra £2.6m on educational psychologists to conduct the assessments.

It also revealed it was now meeting the deadline for 20% of assessment applications.

The BBC has asked the new Reform administration how much it will invest - and how many EHC assessment requests are currently outstanding - but it declined to answer.

Journet said his team inherited the backlog from the Tories.

"We are going to do things a little bit different," he told BBC Essex mid-morning presenter Ben Fryer.

"I can't guarantee we are going to fix the system completely, but what I won't accept is failure and what has gone on before it."

He also said the administration had launched a programme of new SEND forums for families, and he is due to be at the first one being staged in Basildon later this month.

Dadds said both of her sons had autism and ADHD, and her eldest was not receiving the provision he needed following his assessment four years ago.

As a result, she is taking her case to a tribunal.

"What needs to happen, more importantly than clearing the backlog, is getting it right," she said.

"I think parents would be less upset that it has taken longer than 20 weeks, if actually at the end of it they didn't have to go to tribunal, which happens to so many parents."

A council spokesperson said it did not comment on individual cases.

"The Operation Backlog Plan will include a full analysis of every case," they said.

"More details of this plan will be shared with parents at an appropriate time."

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