Fewer special educational needs assessment requests made in Luton

An education, health and care plan is a legal document identifying the needs of a child or young person, and setting out the additional support required to meet those special educational needs.

To receive an EHC, a request must be made to the relevant local authority to carry out an assessment.

A charity said EHC plans are crucial for many children to access education, but warned of the impact of "disastrous" waits for an assessment.

Department for Education figures show 578 requests for an EHC needs assessment were made in Luton in 2024 – down from 652 the previous year.

A total of 413 EHC needs assessments were carried out in the area last year, and the decision was to issue a plan in 98% of cases.

Of the new plans issued, 27% were issued within the statutory 20 weeks.

Meanwhile, 70% were issued between 20 and 52 weeks, and 3% took over a year.

Figures for Central Bedfordshire show 944 requests were made for EHC needs assessment in 2024 – up from 909 the previous year.

Across England, 154,500 requests for an EHC assessment were received in 2024 – up 12% on the year before.

The number of new EHC plans issued has increased each year since their introduction in 2014, with 97,700 plans issued last year.

Just 46% of new plans were issued within the statutory 20 weeks last year – down from 50% the year before.

Another 46% waited between 20 and 52 weeks, and 7% waited over a year.

The figures show autistic spectrum disorder was the most common primary type of need among those issued a new EHC plan across England, accounting for 28% of plans.

In Luton however, speech, language and communication needs were the most prominent primary type of need, accounting for 32% of new plans.

This is also the same for Central Bedfordshire - accounting for 36% of new plans.

Arooj Shah, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: "Preparing EHC plans is a complex and lengthy process, and one that local authorities take extremely seriously and seek to get right.

"While councils endeavour to make sure these are completed on time, this cannot be at the expense of working alongside families and teachers to make sure all children who need support have the most appropriate plans in place."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, said: "We inherited a SEND system on its knees, and at the heart of these figures are families fighting for support that should just be readily available.

"Too many children are not having their needs identified at an early enough stage, creating a vicious cycle of overwhelmed local services and children’s support needs escalating to crisis point.

"Through our Plan for Change, we’re improving things right now, and will break this vicious cycle with wide-ranging reform."

They added the Government has invested £740 million to create more places for children with SEND in mainstream schools, increased timely access to speech, language and neurodiversity support, and will announce plans to improve experiences for children and families in the autumn.