Just over half of education, health and care plans issued by Herts County Council completed on time

Only just over half of all education, health and care plans (EHCPs) issued by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) were completed within legal time limits last year.

An EHCP is a statutory document that outline a child’s special educational needs, the support they should be offered and even the school they should attend.

Once a request for an EHCP is made, it should be assessed and determined within a statutory 20-week timeframe.

According to a report presented to councillors this week, 2,099 EHCPs were issued by HCC in 2024 – 51% more than the 1,390 in 2021 – but just 54% were issued within “expected timescales”.

The report, presented to a meeting of the children, young people and families cabinet panel on Tuesday (March 11), highlights the increasing requests, the growing number of completed EHCPs and the improving quality.

According to the report, 3,308 requests for an EHCP assessment were made in 2024 – 16% more than the 2,855 made in 2023 and 55% more than the 2,137 in 2021. In the same year, 2,447 requests were agreed and 2,099 completed.

The 2,099 EHCPs completed last year is 27% higher than the 1,651 in 2023 and 51% more than the 1,390 in 2021.

The quality of the EHCPs is reported to be improving, with 51% of plans judged to be good or outstanding in the last three months of the calendar year.

Overall in 2024, 54% of children and young people received their completed EHCPs within the 20-week time frame. In the last quarter (October to December), performance dipped to 46%.

As part of its improvement plan, the council has set a target of completing 60% of EHCPs within 20 weeks by April.

The report to the cabinet panel states: “The additional investment proposed in the Integrated Plan will support the continued work to improve timeliness further to meet both the milestone of 60% identified in the Priority Action Plan and beyond.

“This is absolutely not a ‘ceiling’: it represents an improvement milestone as set out in the Priority Action Plan agreed in January 2024 and based on our starting baseline.

“Our ambition is to support all children in a timely way and be among the best performers in the country, and we are committed to achieving this in the context of a national challenge for SEND.”