| SPOTLIGHT |
The Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, David Johnston, has rejected press reports that the Government has targets for reducing the number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Writing to the Chair of the Education Select Committee, Robin Walker MP, the Minister confirmed that the department is not imposing a 20% reduction in the number of children and young people with EHCPs.
The initial correspondence followed a report in The Observer suggesting that the Government had signed a contract with a consultancy firm in July 2022 - as part of the Delivering Better Value in Send programme - “targeting at least a 20% reduction in new EHCPs issued.”
The Education Committee chair had noted that this revelation would appear to contradict evidence from former children’s minister Claire Coutinho, who said in an evidence session on 23 May 2023 that the Department was “absolutely not trying to” ration EHCPs through the SEND and AP Improvement Plan.
Responding to the Committee’s concerns, David Johnston MP wrote on 22 September (with the letter’s contents being made public last week): “The primary aim of our reform plan is to put the needs of the child at the centre of a reformed system that gives them the support that they need at an earlier stage than some children currently get it.
“In achieving this, we would expect a reduced need for some children to receive an EHCP in order to receive the provision they require.”
He added however that the department “continues to guarantee” every parent and family’s existing legal right to an EHCP when one is needed.
The letter stressed that a 20% reduction in new EHCPs issued “is not a KPI [Key performance indicator] that Newton Europe, our delivery partner for DBV [Delivering Better Value], is working towards; nor a figure that the Department is working towards; nor a target that LAs have been asked to agree to”.
Johnston added that the 20% reduction figure referred to in the contract with Newton Europe “simply reflects an impact we might expect if the Delivering Better Value programme successfully enables schools and LAs to identify need early and provide the appropriate support without an EHCP being required”.
The children’s minister noted that he would “write again shortly” in response to the Education Committee’s broader comments and questions, which included a request for information from the Department on the proportion of inspectors of specialist settings who come from a special school background.
Lottie Winson
