Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans (2021-2024)

1. How many children (18 months to 10 years old) with EHC Plans were allocated to specialist schools in your county between 2021 to 2024 (i.e. 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)?

Compliance with this question 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. There are 213 schools which could be considered specialist with nearly 8000 students attending these establishments and to check all currently on roll would take at least 5 minutes per record which is 40,000 minutes (666 hours) and over the 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. Unfortunately, due to the way the data is held, this is not possible for this request.  

2. How many children (18 months to 10 years old) with EHC Plans are currently on a waiting list for a place at a specialist school in your county?

When an EHC Plan is awarded, a suitable placement is named. This may change based on the needs of the child and a more suitable placement may become available at a later date. There is however no waiting list for specialist placements.

3. How many requests/applications for EHC Plans in total are currently under review (i.e. within the estimated 6-week review, before a decision is made about needing the 12-week assessment)?

As of 15th May 2024, there are 574 cases where a decision to assess has been made but the decision to issue has yet to be made.

4. How many requests/applications for EHC Plans in total are now in the assessment stage (once a decision for whether the 12-week assessment is needed is successful but is yet to reach a final decision after that assessment)?

As of 15th May 2024, there are 703 cases where a decision to issue has been made but the plan has yet to be finalised.

5. Please provide the number of EHC Plans requests filed, an average success rate (EHC Plans issued) and an average denial rate (requests that have been rejected or dismissed) between 2021 to 2024 (i.e. 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).