Mum's 30-week wait for son's special needs plan

A mother whose autistic son waited more than 30 weeks for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) says she is not surprised Warwickshire County Council is missing legal deadlines for children with special educational needs.

Data due before the authority's cabinet showed just 9.2% of EHCP applications were completed within the statutory 20-week timeframe in June.

The council's director for children and young people, John Coleman, described the position as "a major concern and unacceptable", citing rising demand and capacity pressures.

Teresa, from Rugby, said she experienced the delays first-hand while applying for an EHCP for her son Lorenzo before he started primary school.

"Trying to understand a whole new system as well as now trying to navigate a system which seemed broken was one heck of a challenge for us," she said.

EHCPs are legal documents that set out the additional support a child or young person with special educational needs may require in education.

Teresa began the process in December 2024 and, two months later, was told the council had agreed to carry out an assessment.

However, Lorenzo's final EHCP was not signed off until 24 July 2025, more than 30 weeks after the process began and just weeks before he started school.

During that time, Teresa received notification that the application had been delayed and later spotted errors in a draft version of the plan, including an incorrect date of birth.

At one stage, she was also asked to review the proposed plan and suggest amendments before it could be finalised.

The five-year-old started school in September 2025 and now attends full-time.

"I think it's not too bad," she said.

"We get a lot of tears, a lot of separation anxiety unfortunately, but he does now attend full day and up until the very last term of school he was on a reduced timetable because he wasn't coping."

While relieved her son now has support in place, Teresa remains concerned about the future, particularly the transition to secondary school.

"I think secondary school, especially where I live in Rugby, is slightly more problematic because there aren't enough schools," she said.

"You're taking children from a class of 30 and now you're putting them into a school where there are hundreds of children.

"I think it's going to be a really large challenge."

A report to councillors said increasing demand for assessments continued to create capacity pressures and growing backlogs.

The authority's average EHCP completion time is now 28 weeks, according to council documents.

In the report, Coleman said: "The significant reduction in performance to the timeliness of EHCPs is a major concern and unacceptable.

"This is due to increasing demand, national policy changes and capacity pressures."

He said a recovery plan would be shared with senior officers and councillors, adding: "The priority for the next quarter is to improve this performance, reduce backlogs and continue targeted work to improve timeliness."

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