1) At the time of this freedom of information request (7 May), how many children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are currently waiting for a school place in your council area?
We can only provide the current position on 10 May 2024 when retrieving the information. We do not hold this information for the specific date of 7 May 2024 and to create this would involve checking each individual record. Compliance with this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time. In the interests of providing advice and assistance, the Council can provide the following information for question 1, 2 and 7 as of 10 May 2024:
9046 children had an active EHCP
6384 of these are school age
31 children were awaiting a school placement
2) How many children are awaiting assessment for an EHCP in your council area? Of that number, how many are currently without a school place?
109 children and young people have requested an EHC Needs assessment and are awaiting a decision as to whether we will assess.
94 of these are school age
0 were awaiting a school placement
3) How many special educational need (SEN) appeals were undertaken in the years of 2021, 2022 and 2023?
2021 – 111
2022 – 206
2023 – 406
4) How many of these appeals ended up at tribunal, broken down by the years 2021, 2022, 2023?
2021 – 42
2022 – 84 (5 appeals still ongoing)
2023 – 50 (134 appeals still ongoing and 106 appeals where data is not yet processed)
To process the data for the 106 appeals not yet processed would take at minimum 20 minutes each and would equate to at least 35 hours of work. Therefore this would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
5) How many SEN appeals were upheld/partially upheld in favour of the council, broken down by the years 2021, 2022, and 2023?
We do not record data on if an appeal is partially upheld in favour of the council but below is the data on if an appeal is dismissed/struck out in favour of the council:
2021 – 2
2022 – 7 (5 appeals still ongoing)
2023 – 5 (134 appeals still ongoing and 106 appeals where data is not yet processed)
To process the data for the 106 appeals not yet processed would take at minimum 20 minutes each and would equate to at least 35 hours of work. Therefore this would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
6) How much was spent by the council on the SEN appeals process in the years of 2021, 2022, and 2023? This includes appeals that went to tribunal, and those which were settled before tribunal was necessary. It should also include a breakdown of legal fees where possible.
We do not record this data and to collate this would involve checking each of the 723 appeals which would take at minimum 20 minutes each and would equate to at least 241 hours of work. Therefore this would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which is £450 or 18 hours of officer time.
Under the Act, there is a duty to provide advice and assistance as to how a request can be refined to fit within the appropriate limit. This information is not recorded anywhere specifically other than within the case details and checking each appeal case in order to collate this information would exceed the appropriate cost limit, this is not possible for this request.
7) How many SEN appeals are currently on your authority’s caseload? This includes appeals which are yet to go to tribunal, appeals which are at tribunal stage, and any other appeals which are outstanding.
268 active appeals