Please provide the following information for each of the academic years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24:
1. The total number of requests for EHC needs assessments received by Devon County Council.
This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means).
The requested information is already publicly available on this website.
2. The number of those requests that were refused (i.e. where the LA decided not to carry out a needs assessment).
This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means).
The requested information is already publicly available on this website.
3. Of the refusals in question 2, how many were subsequently appealed to the SEND Tribunal (First-tier Tribunal, Special Educational Needs and Disability).
This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means).
The requested information is already publicly available on this website.
4. Of those appeals:
a. How many were conceded by Devon County Council before the hearing
b. How many were upheld in favour of the appellant (parent/carer/young person)
c. How many were not upheld
d. How many were withdrawn by the appellant.
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.
In order to locate and retrieve this information we would have to manually review 254 records. We estimate that each one would take 10 minutes to review. This would take us over the 18 hour appropriate limit for FOI requests.
This response acts as a Refusal Notice for this part of your request.
5. The total cost to Devon County Council of defending SEND Tribunal appeals relating to refusals to assess, including staff time and any legal costs, for each year listed above.
DCC does not hold this information.
If any of this information is held in a different format or for different time periods, please provide what is available and clarify the format.