Extra investment to strengthen county council support for families

Derbyshire County Council is investing a further £1.3m to ensure it continues to improve its support to children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

Cabinet agreed to use the money to employ an extra 20 staff within key SEND teams to increase the number of Education, Health and Care Plans being produced, speed up reviews and strengthen communication with families.

Extra staff will be drafted in to focus on carrying out timely assessments for the issuing of ECHP’s to ensure more are completed within the 20-week deadline and to focus on processing and completing annual reviews of these.

It follows a previous restructure of the service in response to the significant increase in demand for EHCP’s and the associated assessments which have already led to improvements in service delivery and efficiency.

More staff will also be employed to work alongside families who appeal against decisions to ensure they are dealt with and resolved as quickly as possible to improve their overall experience.

Alongside this, work with parents and carers will continue to be prioritised to find amicable solutions with the aim of reducing the need for complaints or progression on to tribunal.

The county council is also expanding its team who work with vulnerable learners and will take on extra business support staff to focus on responding to enquiries and complaints to ensure families receive timely communication from the council. 

Cabinet Member for SEND and Inclusion Councillor Simon Mabbott said: “I had the pleasure of meeting parents and carers at County Hall recently and heard first-hand the issues they have faced getting the support they need for their children.

“By putting in these extra resources we’ve significantly increased our capacity to handle the rising number of EHCP requests, enabling us to reduce the backlog and work more efficiently on current and new plans.

“However, while we’ve made great strides, we’re not complacent and want to ensure every child and young person with SEND in our community receives the support and opportunities they deserve.

“We know we still have a long way to go, and I want to thank families for their patience. I want us to work together to achieve better outcomes for children and families across Derbyshire.”

An inspection of the Derbyshire Local Area Partnership was carried out by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in September 2024 and their report highlighted a number of areas requiring work to improve the effectiveness of local education, health and care services to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND aged up to 25.

The partnership, made up of Derbyshire County Council’s education and the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, which provides paediatric and specialist health services, is now working on a priority action plan to address areas highlighted by the inspectors for improvement.