Today (Tuesday, 20 October), at a meeting of the Children and Young People committee, councillors agreed to commit up to £2M to tackle the long waiting times for families applying for Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) assessment in Cambridgeshire.
Councillors at today’s meeting heard how the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) team has been trying to operate fairly by working to increase the percentage of assessments completed within the statutory 20-week timeframe while also prioritising applications from those who have been waiting the longest.
The council’s latest data confirms that total plans delivered this year has increased significantly compared with 2025 (from an average of 38 per month January-May 2025, to 96 per month January-July 2026). However, over the same period, new assessment requests have also continued to rise (from an average of 159 per month to 208 per month) – resulting in a net increase (of 784 applications) to the current backlog.
Councillors heard that without additional investment, the number of assessment requests over 20 weeks is forecast to continue increasing over the next year, impacting children and families and increasing the council’s financial risk.
Consequently, to tackle the long waiting times for EHCP assessments in Cambridgeshire, the committee unanimously supported investment of up to £2M in a new recovery programme over 12 months. This proposal will now progress to the Strategy and Resources Committee later this week, which has oversight of budget and business planning decisions, for final review.
Subject to that further approval on Thursday (22 October), the recovery programme would commence with immediate effect, prioritising the longest-waiting and highest-risk cases while also tracking incoming demand and recently delayed assessments.
Going forward the committee would receive comprehensive and regular updates covering output, referral levels, the size of the delayed cohort, and analysis into whether investment is producing additional, high-quality completed EHCPs. This balanced picture will support transparent decision-making based on evidence of delivery, quality, affordability and impact.
Cllr Edna Murphy, chair of the Children and Young People Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We know that the council’s performance on EHCP assessments, has not been good enough. While service delivery has improved significantly over the last year, these improvements have been outstripped by a continued unprecedented increase in demand.
“I want to apologise to the families who have been kept waiting, in some cases far beyond the statutory deadline, and reassure them that improving the timeliness and quality of the EHCP processes is an absolute priority for us.
“We’re working hard to provide fair opportunities and the best possible start in life for all Cambridgeshire’s children and young people, regardless of need – so I’m really pleased we have today supported additional investment that aims to tackle the long waiting times for assessments.
“We will be carefully and closely monitoring the impact of this new programme, which I fully expect will prove to be a decisive turning point for the waiting families across our county.”
The report received by the committee confirmed separately that £4.837m had been released by the council to support mainstream schools experiencing the greatest pressure from delayed EHCP assessments.
The committee papers considered at today’s meeting can be found on our website and it was live streamed on our YouTube channel.
