SEND performance, EHCP delays, provision, capacity and improvement

Please provide the following information concerning Special Educational Needs and Disabilities services.

For statistical information, please provide figures for each financial year from 2021/22 to 2025/26 and for 2026/27 to date unless another period is specified.

Where readily retrievable, please provide figures separately for:
the current Exeter City Council area; and
the area of the future Exeter unitary authority confirmed by Government in July 2026.

Where this is not possible, please provide the smallest available geography and clearly identify the area covered.

EHCP assessments and statutory timescales
For Education, Health and Care needs assessments:
requests received;
decisions to assess;
decisions not to assess;
assessments completed;
decisions to issue an EHCP;
decisions not to issue an EHCP; and
final EHCPs issued.
For EHCP timeliness:
number and proportion of decisions on whether to assess made within the statutory
timescale;
number and proportion of final EHCPs issued within 20 weeks;
number and proportion issued outside 20 weeks;
average or median time from request to final EHCP, where recorded; and
number of cases taking more than 26, 39 and 52 weeks, where these bands are
held.
For the latest available date, the current EHC needs assessment backlog, showing:
total assessments in progress;
number already beyond 20 weeks;
number beyond 26 weeks;
number beyond 39 weeks;
number beyond 52 weeks;
age of the oldest outstanding assessment; and
average or median age of overdue cases.
For assessments currently delayed, the number awaiting:
Educational Psychology advice;
health advice;
social-care advice;
school or education-setting advice;
parental or young-person information; or
another contribution,
where these reasons are recorded.

Educational Psychology
For Educational Psychology advice requested as part of an EHC needs assessment:
number of requests;
number completed;
number and proportion completed within six weeks;
average or median completion time;
number outstanding beyond six weeks; and
longest recorded wait.
Full-time-equivalent Educational Psychologists at each year end, together with:
established posts;
filled posts;
vacancies;
agency or locum staff;
average caseload, where recorded; and
expenditure on agency, locum or externally commissioned Educational Psychology
capacity.

Children and young people with EHCPs
Number of children and young people with an EHCP at each year end, broken down
where held by:
age or education phase;
primary special educational need;
placement type; and
SEND locality or geography.

For annual EHCP reviews:
number due;
number completed;
number completed within the required timescale;
number overdue;
average or median delay; and
longest recorded delay.
Number of children and young people with an EHCP who, at year end or the latest
available date, were:
awaiting a suitable education placement;
awaiting a special-school place;
awaiting a resource-base or other specialist place;
receiving education otherwise than at school arranged by the Council;
receiving interim tuition while awaiting provision; or
recorded as receiving no education while awaiting provision.
Please provide the average or median wait and longest recorded wait where held.

Number of children and young people for whom provision specified in an EHCP was
recorded as not being fully delivered, broken down by reason where held.

Specialist SEND places
A list of specialist SEND provision within the Exeter area, including:
special schools;
resource bases;
enhanced provision;
alternative provision principally serving children with SEND; and other Council-commissioned specialist education provision.
For each, please provide:
establishment;
location;
type of provision;
principal needs served;
commissioned places;
occupied places;
vacancies;
waiting-list numbers, where recorded; and
any planned expansion or reduction.

The Council’s latest SEND sufficiency assessment or equivalent analysis showing:
current specialist capacity;
projected demand;
projected shortage or surplus of places;
geographic gaps;
types of provision where shortages are expected; and
projected requirements to at least 2030.

A schedule of every current or planned project creating additional specialist SEND places within the Exeter area, showing:
site;
type of provision;
additional places;
current stage;
original capital budget;
latest forecast cost;
funding secured;
original opening date; and
current expected opening date.

Any assessment since 1 January 2023 of the need for additional:
special-school places;
resource-base places;
autism provision;
social, emotional and mental-health provision;
alternative provision; or
other specialist SEND provision within the Exeter area.
Independent and out-of-area placements

Number of Devon-funded SEND placements in:
independent special schools;
non-maintained special schools; and
other specialist placements outside Council-maintained provision,
showing:
number of children;
annual expenditure;
average annual placement cost, where recorded; and
number placed outside Devon.

Any assessment, business case, options appraisal or final briefing since 1 January
2023 concerning reducing reliance on independent or out-of-area SEND placements,
including:
potential savings;
additional local places required;
capital investment required; and
proposed timetable.

SEND support in mainstream education
Where held, for pupils receiving SEN Support and separately for pupils with EHCPs:
persistent absence rate;
suspension rate;
permanent exclusion rate; and number recorded as missing education.
Where this information is already published, please identify the relevant dataset and
tables.

Any current assessment of the ability of mainstream schools to meet SEND needs, including recorded pressures concerning:
staffing;
specialist support;
funding;
resource-base capacity; or
ability to prevent escalation to specialist placements.

Complaints and Ombudsman findings
SEND-related complaints received by the Council, showing:
stage 1 complaints;
stage 2 complaints;
complaints upheld;
complaints partially upheld;
complaints not upheld;
average response time, where recorded; and
complaints answered outside the Council’s target timescale.

SEND cases considered by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman,
showing:
cases investigated;
findings of fault or maladministration;
recommendations made;
compensation or other financial remedies paid; and
total value of financial remedies.

Any analysis since 1 January 2023 identifying recurring causes of SEND complaints
or Ombudsman findings and actions taken in response.
SEND Tribunal
SEND Tribunal appeals, showing:
appeals registered;
subject of appeal using the categories held by the Council;
cases conceded by the Council before hearing;
cases withdrawn or resolved before hearing;
cases proceeding to hearing;
cases in which the appellant succeeded in whole or part; and
cases dismissed.

Annual Council expenditure associated with SEND Tribunal cases, including where
separately recorded:
external legal advice;
barristers;
expert evidence;
Council legal-service costs; and
other external tribunal support.
Any assessment since 1 January 2023 of:
reasons SEND Tribunal appeals arise;
reasons cases are conceded;
recurring issues leading to adverse outcomes;
avoidable tribunal expenditure; or
service changes made in response.

SEND workforce and caseload
Full-time-equivalent staffing at each year end for:
EHCP/SEND caseworkers;
SEND managers;
Educational Psychologists;
SEND commissioning staff;
tribunal or dispute-resolution staff; and other staff principally responsible for statutory SEND functions.

For each category, please provide where held:
establishment;
filled posts;
vacancies;
agency or temporary staff; and
average caseload.
Annual expenditure on agency, consultancy or temporary staffing used principally to
support SEND services.
Any workforce plan, capacity assessment, recruitment plan or business case since 1
January 2023 concerning staffing requirements within:
SEND Operations;
Educational Psychology;
SEND commissioning;
annual reviews; or
tribunal and dispute resolution.
SEND finances

For each financial year, please provide:
High Needs Block allocation;
actual High Needs Block expenditure;
annual overspend or underspend;
accumulated Dedicated Schools Grant deficit attributable to high needs, where recorded;
expenditure on independent and non-maintained specialist placements;
expenditure on alternative provision; and
expenditure on SEND transport.

The Council’s latest Dedicated Schools Grant management plan, Safety Valve related plan or equivalent financial recovery plan concerning SEND or the High Needs Block, where applicable.
Any current financial modelling showing:
projected High Needs Block expenditure;
projected deficit;
principal causes of spending growth;
expected savings;
actions required to achieve those savings; and
assumptions concerning specialist-place creation.

SEND transport
For SEND home-to-school transport:
number of children transported;
annual expenditure;
average cost per child, where recorded;
applications received;
applications approved;
applications refused;
appeals;
complaints;
journeys not provided as planned; and
applications awaiting determination at the latest available date.
Any performance report or dashboard concerning SEND transport for the latest three
years, including any recorded:
delays arranging transport;
missed journeys;
contractor failures;
safeguarding incidents; or
disruption at the beginning of the academic year.

Devon SEND improvement programme
The Council’s current SEND improvement, transformation, accelerated progress or
equivalent plan.
The latest document showing progress against every action in that plan, including:
action;
original deadline;
latest deadline;
responsible organisation;
current status;
performance measure;
whether complete, on track, delayed or off track; and
revised completion date where applicable.
The latest SEND performance dashboard or scorecard used by:
senior officers;
Cabinet;
the SEND Strategic Partnership Board;
the SEND Improvement Board; or
another body responsible for overseeing SEND improvement.
Any final report, review or assessment produced since 1 January 2023 evaluating
progress against weaknesses or areas for improvement identified through:
Ofsted;
the Care Quality Commission;
Department for Education intervention;
SEND improvement advisers; or
other external review.

Any substantive progress report or formal submission supplied since 1 January 2023
to:
the Department for Education;
Ofsted;
the Care Quality Commission; or
a Government-appointed SEND adviser
concerning Devon’s SEND performance or improvement programme.
Any substantive written feedback received from those bodies concerning:
progress;
continuing weaknesses;
missed milestones;
required further action; or
readiness for future inspection.
Causes of delay and service failure
Any current analysis, review, report or dashboard identifying the causes of delays in:
EHC needs assessments;
Educational Psychology advice;
issuing final EHCPs;
annual reviews;
securing suitable placements;
delivering provision specified in EHCPs; or
arranging SEND transport.

Any risk-register entries since 1 January 2023 concerning:
SEND statutory compliance;
EHCP backlogs;
Educational Psychology capacity;
specialist-place shortages;
tribunal exposure;
SEND finances;
SEND transport; or
failure to deliver the SEND improvement programme.
Future Exeter Council
Any assessment, transition plan, options appraisal or final officer/member briefing
concerning how SEND responsibilities will be transferred or governed following local
government reorganisation, including:
responsibility for existing EHCPs;
ongoing EHC needs assessments;
specialist-school places;

SEND staff;
Educational Psychology;
SEND transport;
contracts and commissioned provision;
High Needs Block funding;
Dedicated Schools Grant deficits;
tribunal cases;
complaints;
records and case-management systems; and responsibility for children living within the future Exeter unitary authority.
Any assessment of SEND demand, staffing, specialist-place requirements or financial pressures specifically relating to the population that will fall within the future Exeter unitary authority.

In response to the request as a whole, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450 or 18 hours of officer time.