Last month, we explained that we’re reviewing the way that funding is allocated to children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans, (EHCPs).
It’s because the current system for deciding how much funding a child receives does not always work as well as it should.
Families and schools have said that the current system is inconsistent, with decisions varying between children’s schools or panels.
They say that it’s hard to understand why one child gets one level of funding and another doesn’t.
And they say the current system can lead to long waits, appeals and confusion.
We’ve appointed experts, Peopletoo, an independent organisation with years of experience in helping local authorities across the country to improve the way we work, to review our current EHCP banding framework.
We want to do that with the help of parents and carers of children with EHCPs.
We’re inviting parents and carers to an online workshop next month to help us start the review.
There are two online workshops to choose from:
- Monday 22 September – 10am to 12pm
- Tuesday 23 September – 7pm to 9pm
In these workshops, we would like to talk about how the current funding system works for children with EHCPs, and where it causes the most challenges for families.
We’d like to identify the priority areas for change, and what matters most to you about how funding decisions are made.
And we’d like to agree a set of guiding principles – clear values and ideas that will shape how we will design a new, fairer system.
This is your chance to help us shape the design of a new framework; one that helps families understand how decisions are made, treats children with similar needs consistently, and gives schools the tools they need to plan the right support.
If you would like to participate in one of the online workshops, please visit the Eventbrite website: Please note that these weblinks will be live from 10am on Wednesday 27 August.
If you’re unable to attend either of the workshops but would still like to share your views, you can complete our short online survey instead. It takes around five minutes and gives you the opportunity to have your voice heard in shaping the new framework. Complete the survey here. The deadline for completing the survey is Monday 22 September.
If you need any assistance in accessing the online workshops or online survey, please email childsc.sendimprovementprogramme-mailbox@devon.gov.uk.
These September workshops are just the first step in an ongoing discussion. Once we’ve gathered your views about the current system and your priorities for change, we’ll use your feedback to design a draft of the new funding framework, which we’ll share at a second round of workshops in mid-October.
Ideally we’d like parents who attend the first workshop in September to stay with us in this process and to attend the second workshop in October, if possible. We think the continuity and the shared understanding of the review so far will help when considering ideas, suggesting improvements and helping to make sure the new process works in practice.