Enfield’s special educational needs (Send) service receives approximately 700 new requests for EHCPs yearly, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Requests for children in the borough to be given education, health and care plans (EHCPs) is the highest in London, an Enfield Council meeting heard this week.

According to the council’s education resources manager, Enfield’s special educational needs (Send) service receives approximately 700 new requests for EHCPs yearly, while the number who have been given a care plan has doubled in five years.

Amid the “increased demand” for Send services in the borough, a report presented to the council’s finance and performance scrutiny panel yesterday (Thursday 11th) revealed some of the issues the local authority faces in meeting the growing need for support from parents, carers and schools.

The number of children with complex needs who are looked after by the local authority has “increased steadily” in the last five years, along with placement costs.

In 2017/18 there were 338 children and the average weekly cost was £3,801, but by 2023/24 there were 419 children and the cost was £6,228 per week.

The number of children with a complex care package, given to those with chronic or long-term health conditions, rose from three to twelve in 2023/24 and the council report noted the cost of delivering support was now £662,779, up from £249,273 in 2020/21.

In better news, the report confirms that all of the council’s special needs schools are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the education watchdog Ofsted, with the exception of one which has yet to be rated since opening in 2022.

Addressing the panel, Peter Nathan, the council’s director of education, said there had been “considerable issues” with EHCPs, the rising cost of increased demand, and the “legal framework” the council worked within.

He said: “Often when a child gets one, they’ve got them for life; there is an issue about this because sometimes we feel that isn’t necessary.

“For us, if a parent or a school wants an assessment, although we’ve tightened up on this a lot recently, it’s quite difficult not to do an assessment perhaps because of the way the law is written. Although we try to work around that the best we can.”

Sangeeta Brown, education resources manager, said: “What schools tend to do is send requests where they feel they cannot meet that child’s needs, so not every child needs a plan.”

She added that sometimes the schools could provide adequate Send support themselves, through allocated government and council funding, and said if the child needed additional support on top of that the council could be approached for an assessment.

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