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An education, health and care plan sets out what support a child with special needs is entitled to<\/p>\nIn February just one per cent of plans were finalised within a 20-week legal time limitAn education, health and care plan sets out what support a child with special needs is entitled to<\/p>\n
Bristol parents are waiting on average a year for crucial assessments on whether their children can get special educational needs support. Budget cuts last year to early support have driven up demand for more expensive versions of help, and a massive backlog in assessments.<\/p>\n
But there are now signs the council is turning the situation around, with a huge investment in educational psychologists. Labour<\/a> criticised Greens, who have run the council for just over a year, for the long delays \u2014 while the Greens said they were a consequence of Labour\u2019s cuts.<\/p>\n Parents have to wait an average of 50 weeks in Bristol to get an education, health and care plan, much longer than the legal deadline of 20 weeks. The latest data<\/a> from March shows that three per cent of plans were finalised within 20 weeks, slightly up from just one per cent in February.<\/p>\n EHCPs are personalised plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities, which sets out what support they require. Across England an average of half of EHCPs are finalised within 20 weeks.<\/p>\n Bristol\u2019s performance has worsened over the past couple of years, dropping from two thirds in August 2023, to a third in August last year, and now at just three plans for every 100 children. The data was published ahead of the children and young people policy committee on June 26.<\/p>\n The drop in performance is directly related to budget cuts<\/a> which Labour passed shortly before the local elections in May last year, according to council bosses. Nonetheless, Labour is now blaming the Greens, who won those elections, for the increasing time that parents have to wait. The party claimed Bristol is now the \u201cslowest in the country\u201d, although this couldn\u2019t be independently verified.<\/p>\n Labour Councillor Kerry Bailes said: \u201cThe council completed only three per cent of EHCPs on time in March \u2014 and only one per cent in February. This is appalling. This situation leaves parents and children in an awful limbo and cannot be allowed to continue.<\/p>\n \u201cAddressing the SEND crisis is a challenge for all councils, but the fact Bristol is the slowest in the country should set alarm bells ringing. At the end of 2023, 48.5 per cent of EHCPs were issued on time. The Greens are taking our city in the wrong direction. Just listen to the experiences of SEND parents like me \u2014 they will tell you the situation feels much worse.<\/p>\n \u201cEHCPs are essential for children to access education and healthcare \u2014 something needs to change. EHCP provision is a statutory duty \u2014 the public rightly expects the council to get this basic responsibility right. The Green-led council desperately needs to get a grip and turn things around urgently.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year there was a huge jump in parents requesting an assessment for an EHCP, \u201calmost entirely attributed\u201d to Labour\u2019s decision to cut funding<\/a> for help at an early stage, according to the council\u2019s education director Vik Verma, speaking to councillors in March. The number of requests is rising in Bristol much faster than the average increase across the South West.<\/p>\n There are now 1,276 children waiting for a needs assessment, which will decide whether they can get an EHCP and the associated support, according to the latest data. This is 405 more children than the same time last year.<\/p>\n Schools used to have \u00a39 million from the council for early intervention, supporting around 1,000 pupils, known as \u201cnon-statutory top up funding\u201d. Labour approved plans to cut this funding in February last year, despite warnings from parents that this would mean more expensive support was needed, such as with an EHCP.<\/p>\n According to Green Councillor Christine Townsend, chair of the children and young people policy committee, extra staff in the council\u2019s SEND teams are now dealing with the backlog in assessments and the number of EHCPs completed is starting to improve. She added that the situation is \u201cstill not good enough\u201d and the problem can \u201conly be solved\u201d by the government.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cSince the Greens started leading the council and we set our first budget back in February, we have increased staff capacity in the SEND teams to deal with the backlog, invested \u00a3500,000 to increase educational psychology capacity, and ended the income generation work they were instructed to do by the Labour mayor instead of EHCP assessments.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, we are starting to see improvements in the number of EHCPs completed. But I know that this is still not good enough and will continue to work hard to get us to where we should be. Bristol Labour has blamed Greens for the consequences of their own cuts and have refused to get involved in the committee system to find solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir councillors also failed to vote for the dedicated schools grant in the budget, which maximised funds directed to children with additional educational needs in the school funding formula. You could write on the back of a stamp the level of collective expertise Labour has in relation to school funding rules.<\/p>\n \u201cBristol Labour should spend their time calling for a long-term solution to this incredibly important issue that will only be solved with central government action.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of the national crisis in SEND support, the council is now hurtling towards a financial cliff edge, along with many other English councils. The former Conservative government gave councils special permission to carry over a deficit year on year in their education budgets, due to rising demand and costs for SEND support \u2014 but only until March next year. This has recently been extended for another two years<\/a>, with the deadline now March 2028.<\/p>\n Without government intervention, many councils face effective bankruptcy when this permission ends, because the huge size of the deficits will be too much for them to be able to balance the books. The Labour government has promised a white paper this autumn looking at SEND reforms, which might include ways to fix the looming financial crisis.<\/p>\n Join Bristol Live\u2019s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. 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Data showing the waits for an EHCP assessment(Image: Bristol City Council)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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