THE council has now worked through the backlog of assessments for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Sharon Muldoon, interim director of education and skills, told a meeting of the children’s services overview and scrutiny committee that this backlog, which had seen families waiting for more than a year, was now cleared.

She said: “I’m delighted to tell you this evening that we have worked through all of those children’s plans.”

Ms Muldoon said that timeliness for children to get an assessment on a potential plan, which legally has to be within six weeks, has been hit for every request since the start of the academic year.

The 20-week limit for then issuing an education, health and care plan (EHCP) has also been hit in 100 per cent of cases, she said.

As reported, as many as twelve families were waiting for an assessment for more than a year, and 70 families were waiting for more than 30 weeks.

However, Ms Muldoon acknowledged that more work needed to be done to improve the quality of the plans issued.

The meeting, which took place on Wednesday, July 24, came the day before the Local Government Association urged the new government to reform SEND services.

This comes as costs for SEND provision has risen to an estimated £12billion by 2026, compared to £4billion a decade ago, when a package of landmark reforms was introduced.

Cathi Hadley, director of children’s services, highlighted the ‘real challenge’ the council faces over funding, saying that the council will be setting an approved budget to help manage a deficit which is expected to be £91million by next March.

Ms Hadley also said that there had been no further discussions with the government over joining the controversial Safety Valve programme, after its plan was rejected earlier this year.

Cllr David Martin asked the officers whether schools in the conurbation were sharing collective responsibility in bringing more children with EHCPs into mainstream education.

Ms Muldoon said there was a range, with some schools with lots of children with EHCPs, and others with few.

She added the council is looking to work with schools to understand what investment may be needed across the area to help facilitate more inclusion at schools that may have fewer SEND children.

Ms Hadley said the council was also in contact with the Department for Education and Ofsted on how to improve inclusivity, while saying that these conversations ‘have begun’ with schools in the area.