Education plans for children with learning disabilities are not being put together quickly enough, a council report has revealed.

Only 18 per cent of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in Rutland were finalised within Rutland County Council's 20-week deadline between April 2025 and March 2026, against a target of 90 per cent.

EHCPs are discretely produced education plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), drawing on individual requirements and vulnerabilities to formulate bespoke schooling arrangements.

Cllr Tim Smith, who holds the council portfolio for children, families and communities, attributes the low assessment deadline success rate to a recent surge in applications.

"Back in 2017 we processed 190 EHCPs. Now we're closer to 500," he said.

"We think more children with SEND conditions are being identified these days, and parents are increasingly aware that an EHCP can secure a better education for their child. Not to mention the pandemic, which accelerated the increase. We're talking about a 40 per cent rise year on year. It's put tremendous pressure on our staff."

While demand for EHCPs has increased, so has their complexity, according to Coun Smith, and this too has contributed in part to missed 20-week deadlines.

"One of the problems we face is that after 16 weeks, we'll consult with many other agencies about the needs of each child, and this can delay the final plan," he continued.

advertisement

"But we are improving. We finalised six plans on time out of 27 over the last quarter. That's up from two out of eight during the same period the year before."

The council recently submitted a SEND reform plan to the government, in which details were shared on how EHCP applications could be reduced.

"We will still produce them, but if we intervene early enough, we can sometimes prevent cases from progressing towards needing a full EHCP.

"During a child's earlier years, if we offer support like speech and language therapy from specialised teachers, we can recognise problems that some children have and intervene at that stage. It does seem to prevent escalation to higher-cost EHCPs.

Cllr Smith underlined that cases are still supported even if they miss the council's 20-week assessment deadline.

He said: "It's not like we say there's nothing more we can do. Children will receive the help required, even if the EHCP process goes beyond that 20 weeks."