Decision details

Guidance notes:

SEND services in Kent are subject to a Written Statement of Action (WSOA) following an inspection of services in January 2019 identified weaknesses in nine key areas. One of those areas was the ability of the service to deliver Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in a timely manner and to an agreed quality. The most recent figures indicate that only 29% of EHCPs were delivered in line with statutory timescales. One of the key reasons for this failure has been the exponential increase in numbers of requests over recent years linked to the inability of the Education Psychology Service (EPS) to provide enough assessments in a timely manner

The Council is seeking the provision of high-quality locum support to complete statutory    assessments in accordance with the template provided by the local authority and within designated time scales.  Ongoing support to the service will be provided, through the award of a contract to a third party provider, to significantly reduce the likelihood of a future backlog

Options (other options considered but discarded):

There is a national shortage of qualified Educational Psychologists and potentially a low level of capacity in the market to provide the service. Whilst there are locums available, they may not necessarily be in Kent and a digital offer will need to be considered.

In order to avoid the replication of the current backlog situation, commissioners have discussed with the service how their future needs can be best met by developing the design of the service and what impact this could have on the preventions of waiting lists. This may include but is not limited to the development of a portfolio of locums that would be available to take on ad-hoc work as the peaks and troughs of referrals dictates.

As Cabinet Member forIntegrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

(i)             award a contract (or contracts) in order to deliver Educational Psychology Assessments on behalf of Kent County Council to support the reduction of waiting times for the service,

(ii)            Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, to take relevant actions, as necessary to implement this decision.