Herts County Council set to spend extra £5m to help children with special educational needs and disabilities

Services for children with special needs are set to be boosted by an extra £5m funding from Hertfordshire County Council.

The money will help address a growing concern for the authority, struggling to support a growing number of youngsters with complex requirements.

In too many cases, the council has failed to meet the statutory time scales required for Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The new proposals were outlined at a meeting of the council’s education, libraries and lifelong learning cabinet panel on June 22.

Head of improvement and transformation Samantha Rostom told councillors there was a “significant and strong case for change for this investment”, which will fund the recruitment of 80 more front-line staff.

She highlighted the 156% increase in requests for EHCP assessments in the county between 2015 and 2022.

The investment would improve the delivery and quality of assessments and reviews, enabling the council to meet statutory responsibilities.

She said there was “real ambition, appetite and will across the whole of the system to support SEND children and young people with the investment”.

However, it was also stressed that the investment – which will fund a new SEND academy to deliver training to staff – was “not a silver bullet”.

The opposition parties welcomed the new money and Conservative Cllr Michael Mills-Bishop pointed to a “renewed determination” and a “‘new will”. However, he stressed the need for the Tory-controlled council not to “over-promise”.

It was also noted at the meeting that it was “highly unusual” to make a financial commitment of this scale outside of the annual budget-setting process.

The proposals – which will include an investment of £3m in 2023-24 – will be further considered by a meeting of the county council’s cabinet on July 12.