Council ‘missed education plans deadline’

A LEGAL firm has accused Halton Borough Council of missing a deadline to complete education plans for young people in further education and training.

Simpson Millar said the Department For Education (DfE) wrote to all local authorities and told them to have completed the education, health and care plans (EHCP) by September 1 for young adults aged 19-25 years, with ‘exceptional circumstances’ allowing for failure to meet the target date.

The deadline had been extended from August 31.

A spokeswoman for the firm said EHCPs were required for those who had a learning difficulty assessment (LDA) in place.

She said Halton Borough Council had transferred 36 LDAs to an EHCP before August 31, but 26 were still in the process of being converted after the deadline.

However, it was not among the worst performers.

Simpson Millar reported widespread delays, with more than 4,500 EHCPs not completed by August 31, a Freedom Of Information request revealed.

The hold-ups have sparked criticism from Imogen Jolley, the company’s head of education and community care.

She said: “The assessment and planning reforms for children and young people with special educational needs were announced years ago, and the deadline for making sure EHC plans were in place was well known to local authorities.

“Yet, according our data, only 13 authorities managed to provide all the required plans on time.

“Ten local authorities told us that they failed to deliver a single final ECH plan for this group of young people before August 31.”

The Weekly News contacted Halton Council for comment.