Freedom of Information Act Request
Reference: ECC20157609 04 26
Response: 06 May 2026
I can confirm that Essex County Council does hold some of this information, and where we are able to release this, our response is listed below.
I am conducting comparative research on local authority performance in relation to statutory SEND functions across England. The same request is being submitted to all local authorities with SEND responsibilities, so that responses can be compared on a consistent basis. The questions have been drafted to be proportionate, to minimise the need for clarification, and to avoid asking for any information that would require the creation of new data.
Headline EHCP timeliness statistics, and the total number of EHC needs assessment requests and refusals, are already published by the department for education via the explore education statistics platform. I do not seek those figures. The questions below relate only to information that is not available through the published DfE dataset.
Definitions used in this request
"Your authority" means the local authority to which this request has been submitted.
"2023", "2024" and "2025" mean the calendar years 1 January to 31 December in each case. Where your authority holds the data only by academic or financial year, please provide the nearest equivalent period and specify which period has been used.
"EHCP" means an education, health and care plan issued under section 37 of the children and families act 2014.
"Statutory 20-week timescale" means the period of 20 weeks specified in regulation 13(2) of the special educational needs and disability regulations 2014. For the purposes of this request, an EHCP should be treated as issued within the statutory timescale only if the final plan was actually issued within 20 weeks of the date the request for an EHC needs assessment was received by your authority, regardless of whether any permitted exception under regulation 13(3) might otherwise have applied. This is consistent with how the department for education reports EHCP timeliness statistics.
"EP" means Educational Psychologist or Educational Psychology.
"Statutory EP advice" means psychological advice and information from an Educational Psychologist provided under regulation 6(1)(d) of the SEND Regulations 2014 as part of an EHC Needs Assessment.
"Statutory mediation" means the formal mediation process available under section 55 of The Children and Families Act 2014, and not informal resolution discussions or pre-decision correspondence.
"in-house EP service" means Educational Psychologists directly employed by your authority.
"External EP" means any Educational Psychologist not directly employed by your authority, whether commissioned via framework, contract, panel, spot-purchase, agency, independent sector provider, or any similar arrangement.
"conceded", in relation to a tribunal appeal, means any case where your authority changed its position such that the appeal did not proceed to a contested final hearing. This includes cases where the contested decision was withdrawn by your authority, where settlement was reached, where the matter was resolved by any other form of pre-hearing agreement, and where the appeal was withdrawn by the parent or young person following a change in your authority's position that addressed the matters under appeal.
Questions
Question 1 - Compliance with phase transfer deadlines regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires local authorities to review and, where necessary, amend a child or young person's EHCP before specific dates in the calendar year of their transfer between phases of education: 31 March in the case of transfer from secondary school to a post-16 institution, and 15 February in any other case. This question covers all plans subject to phase transfer review, including those reviewed and maintained without amendment.
For each of 2024 and 2025:
a. the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer to a post-16 institution by the 31 march deadline in the relevant year, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan (whether amended or maintained without amendment) was issued or confirmed in writing to the parent or young person by that deadline;
The number of EHCPs required to review re. phase transfer
2024 – 1119
2025- 1217
The number of EHCPs completed within the deadline –
We do not have the number of those completed within the deadline.
b. the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer at all other phase boundaries by the 15 February deadline in the relevant year, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan (whether amended or maintained without amendment) was issued or confirmed in writing to the parent or young person by that deadline.
The number of EHCPs required to review re. phase transfer
2024 – 689
2025 - 683
The number of EHCPs completed within the deadline –
We do not have the number of those completed within the deadline.
Question 2 - Outcomes of challenges to refusal-to-assess decisions this question concerns decisions by your authority to refuse an EHC needs assessment at the decision-to-assess stage, and the subsequent outcomes where those decisions were challenged. The total number of refusals is published by the department for education and is not sought here.
For each of 2023, 2024, and 2025:
a. the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through statutory mediation.
We do not record this information.
b. the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through appeal to the first-tier tribunal (special educational needs and disability).
2023 – 229
2024 – 287
2025 – 281
c. of the challenges at (a) and (b), the number where your authority subsequently changed its position and agreed to conduct the assessment, whether by agreement at mediation, by conceding the appeal before hearing, or by tribunal order.
We do not record mediation data.
Refusal to assess appeals:
2023 – 217
2024 – 275
2025 – 232
d. where available, the average time between the original refusal decision and the decision to proceed with the assessment following a successful challenge.
We do not record this information.
Question 3 - Educational Psychology advice within the statutory EHC needs assessment process — timeliness this question concerns only EP advice provided under regulation 6(1)(d) of the SEND Regulations 2014 as part of an EHC needs assessment. It does not concern EP advice provided in any other context. The six-week timescale for the provision of statutory advice is set out in regulation 8(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014, and paragraph 9.52 of the SEND code of practice (statutory guidance) confirms this as the universal expectation for advice in EHC needs assessments.
For each of 2024 and 2025:
a. the total number of requests for statutory EP advice made by your authority as part of EHC needs assessments.
2024 – 3094
2025 – 2930
b. the number of those requests returned to the assessment process within six weeks.
We do not record this information.
c. where requests were not completed within six weeks, the longest time taken, measured in completed weeks. If your reporting system also calculates the median delay, please provide that figure.
We do not record this information.
Question 4 - Provenance of Educational Psychology advice used to inform EHCPs issued within the statutory timescale this question concerns EP advice used to inform the content of an EHCP during the statutory EHC needs assessment process. It does not concern EP advice obtained for other purposes such as ordinary SENCO support, school-commissioned assessments unconnected to a statutory assessment, or private reports obtained before an assessment was requested.
For EHCPs issued by your authority within the statutory 20-week timescale in 2024 and in 2025:
a. whether your authority records, for each such plan, the source of the EP advice used to meet the regulation 6(1)(d) requirement.
We do not record the source of EP advice.
b. if such records are held, the number of those EHCPs where the statutory EP advice was:
• produced by your authority's in-house EP service as part of the statutory assessment process.
• produced by an external EP commissioned and paid for by your authority for the purpose of that statutory assessment.
• produced by an EP identified, instructed, or funded by the child's parents, family, or school, whether during the statutory assessment or in the period immediately preceding it, where the report was then accepted by your authority to meet the regulation 6(1)(d) requirement rather than your authority separately commissioning its own EP advice.
c. if the data is not held in the form described at (b), please confirm that and provide any related information that is held. For example, the number of EHCPs issued within the statutory timescale where the EP advice on file was not produced by your authority's in-house service.
We do not record the source of the EP advice. The number of EHCPs issued within 20 weeks for Essex for 2024 was 305 and in 2025 was 484 (Jan-Dec)
Question 5 - Use of external Educational Psychologists to provide statutory advice
a. whether your authority has arrangements in place under which external EPs can be commissioned to provide statutory EP advice when in-house capacity is insufficient to meet the six-week timescale. This includes frameworks, contracts, panels, spot-purchase arrangements, agency instructions, and similar mechanisms.
We do have arrangements in place – we have a contract with an agency, and we also employ associate EPs to support our in-house capacity.
b. whether such arrangements were in place during 2024 and 2025.
We have employed associate EP’s for over 10 years. We commenced the contract with the agency in 2024.
c. the number of statutory EP advice requests referred to external EPs through those arrangements in each of 2024 and 2025.
We do not record the information by month, so have provided overarching figures. Associate EP’s complete approximately 850 EP advice each year.
The agency contract started in April 2024 and were commissioned to complete 900 pieces of advice. This contract was completed in August 2025. Then in September 2025, a new contract was in place to complete 1500 pieces of advice which is still ongoing.
d. the process by which the decision to commission external EP advice is made. For example, whether it is made by a named officer, by a panel, or triggered automatically when in-house waiting times exceed a specified threshold.
This process is managed by the SEND Quadrant resource panel.
Question 6 - SEND corporate complaints.
For each of 2024 and 2025:
a. the total number of formal corporate complaints received by your authority classified as relating to SEND services, or the nearest classification your authority uses.
b. of those, the total number that were upheld or partially upheld at any stage of your authority's complaints procedure, including the final stage.
2024 SEND corporate complaints received = 870 of that number 656 were upheld or partially upheld,
2025 SEND corporate complaints received = 1215 of that number 814 were upheld or partially upheld
Question 7 - LGSCO decisions relating to SEND.
For each of 2023, 2024, and 2025:
a. the number of decisions issued by the local government and social care ombudsman against your authority in relation to SEND matters.
b. the total value of financial remedies recommended by the LGSCO in those decisions.
This information is typically contained in the LGSCO's annual letters to your authority. If your authority does not hold the information directly but does hold those annual letters, the figures drawn from them would be sufficient.
We are unable to answer this question as we are not the data owners for LGO cases.
We advise that you contact the LGO directly, please see the following link to the LGO’s website - Home - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Question 8 - SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions.
For each of 2023, 2024, and 2025:
a. the total number of appeals registered against decisions of your authority at the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
2023 – 555
2024 – 676
2025 – 809
b. the number of those appeals conceded by your authority before final hearing.
• Outcomes of contested hearings are not sought under this question.
Essex County Council does not record appeal decisions in this way. In practice, multiple issues may be decided within a single appeal. For example, in 'Refusal to Amend' appeals, different sections of the EHCP can be appealed. Consequently, outcomes are recorded for each section appealed, providing a more detailed breakdown of possible outcomes for this type of appeal. Please see below detailed outcomes.
Refusal to Amend Outcomes:
Section B:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
Resolved Section B - Compromise 118 110 43
Resolved Section B - For LA 8 13 14
Resolved Section B - For Parent 5 4 1
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section B – Compromise 36 29 17
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section B - For LA 2 5 3
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section B - For Parent 2 1 1
Section F:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
Resolved Section F – Compromise 97 111 47
Resolved Section F - For LA 9 17 16
Resolved Section F - For Parent 5 5 0
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section F – Compromise 55 39 23
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section F - For LA 7 7 3
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Amend Section F - For Parent 5 3 2
Section I:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
Agreed Alternative Placement
64 71 43
Agreed Parental Placement 137 194 132
Parent Agreed to LA Placement
11 13 8
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Section I - LA Placement 19 9 10
Tribunal Ordered (TO) Section I - Parental Placement 52 32 17
Refusal to Assess/Re-assess Outcomes:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
LA Agreed to EHCNA
217 275 232
Parent Agreed EHCNA Not Applicable (N/A) 0 1 1
Tribunal Directed (TD) EHCNA Not Required 3 2 3
Tribunal Directed (TD) LA to do EHCNA 9 11 22
Refusal to Issue Outcomes:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
Agreed to Issue EHCP 10 5 9
Tribunal Ordered (TO) EHCP Not Required 0 0 0
Tribunal Ordered (TO) LA to Issue EHCP 1 0 1
Cease to Maintain Outcomes:
Outcome 2023 2024 2025
Agreed to Maintain EHCP 2 7 2
Tribunal Ordered (TO) EHCP Not Required 0 0 0
Tribunal Ordered (TO) LA to Maintain EHCP 0 1 0
Your Right to Know
Democracy and Transparency
Essex County Council
Telephone: 033301 38989
Email: YourRight.ToKnow@essex.gov.uk | www.essex.gov.uk
