Delays in SEND pupil referrals is concerning, says Suffolk MP

Dr Dan Poulter said there needed to be quicker diagnoses for SEND pupils

A MP has said he was "concerned" over how quickly children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) get support.

Dr Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, said delays to education health and care plans (EHCPs) were getting worse, not better.

Suffolk County Council said EHCP assessments were taking 23 weeks, when they should take 20 weeks.

The authority and health services said they welcomed the feedback.

EHCPs outline specific measures SEND youngsters need in their learning, but the county council said a national shortage of educational specialists was causing delays to assessments.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported Conservative Dr Poulter said a number of headteachers had raised the problem in recent visits.

He wrote to Suffolk County Council, Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT), asking for improvements.

Dr Dan Poulter said that as a minister in the Department for Health he helped to introduce the EHCP

The MP said: "Positive progress on the ground is still not filtering through and I remain particularly concerned at the lack of pace of change in EHCP referrals.

"There needs to be a joint undertaking between Suffolk County Council and health chiefs to properly resource the assessment process, and in particular there needs to be timely access to appropriate diagnostics so that the correct support can be agreed and put in place for our children and young people more quickly."

A joint statement from the county council, Ipswich and East Suffolk and West Suffolk CCGs, and NHFT said: "We welcome the feedback from Dr Dan Poulter as it provides useful insight into an area of SEND provision which we continue to improve.

"The current response time in issuing EHCPs is 23 weeks which, unfortunately, falls short of the 20-week statutory timescale.

"A significant factor in this delay is the national and regional shortage of educational psychologists who help complete the plans.

"We continue to work together to address this."

Earlier this year, the council had to compensate SEND families for failings and campaigners have called for a commissioner to take over the running of the service.

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