In a cabinet meeting this week, Walsall Council praised the work of its inclusion team dealing with education, health and care (EHC) assessments as demand rises across the borough.
The council confirmed that 82 percent of assessments and plans are now completed (data from July-September 2023) within the statutory 20-week time frame compared to just 8.5 percent in 2022.
“Timely completion of EHC plans has been a tricky and challenging predicament over many, many years, and this is against a backdrop of a 14 percent increase of demand and a backlog of requests,” said Councillor Mark Statham, Porfolio Holder for Educations and Skills at Walsall Council.
“Now, having improved the timeliness so significantly, we find ourselves in a really good position, which would not only put us in the top 5 percent in the country, but will have such positive and direct impacts upon children and young people in Walsall.
“EHC plans are there to ensure that those children who need more support are getting it, at the right time from the right people and organisations, to support their learning and development.
The inclusion team who have worked so hard to deliver these successes deserve all the commendations we can give them in terms of their robustness, professionalism and dedication, and we’re now moving forward positively to maintain these figures.”