Worcestershire County Council is implementing a new structure for its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Services, designed to improve the experience of children, young people and their families as they navigate the Education, Health and Care (EHC) process.
Recent feedback from parent carers has highlighted several areas where change was needed.
Common concerns include difficulties contacting casework officers; EHC Needs Assessments and Annual Reviews not completed quickly enough (including within the statutory timescales), and concerns about the overall quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) not being good enough.
In response, the council is making several structural changes, aimed at delivering more timely, accessible, and effective support. These changes are not about cutting costs – they are focused on service improvement.
Key changes include:
- An increase in staff recruited, with 4 additional EHCP Co-ordinators, 1 Team Manager, 1 Senior EHCP Co-ordinator, 2 Initial Screening and Contact Officers (ISCOs) and a second Complaints Officer.
- The creation of new Pre-14 and Post-14 teams in different areas of the county – so children and young people will be allocated to a team and EHCP Co-ordinator based on how old they are and where they live. This means EHCP Co-ordinators can focus on the specific needs of these educational phases and make sure EHCPs, and Annual Reviews include the right support for that stage of life.
- The introduction of a Postcode Finder Tool, helping families identify their allocated team. Each team will have its own phone number and email address to make contact easier, even when individual EHCP Co-ordinators are unavailable.
- Casework Officers are now going to be called ‘EHCP Co-ordinators’ as families reported that they didn’t like children being referred to as a ‘case’.
The Council has been making changes throughout June and July, with the new structure fully in place from 1st September 2025. The County Council has advised that families can continue to contact their current EHCP Co-ordinator and the SEND Services Team via the usual channels and will be updated as and when things change.
The number of children and young people with EHCPs continues to rise – from 6,530 in September 2024 to 7,339 in April 2025.
Despite these challenges, there have been improvements made. The proportion of EHCPs issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe has increased from 29% in September 2024 to 69% in April 2025. The number of children waiting more than 30 weeks for a plan has dropped significantly – from 52 in September 2024 to 2 in April 2025.
Councillor Dr. Stephen Foster, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Education and SEND said: “We know that families have not always had the experience they should expect when it comes to EHCPs and SEND support. These changes reflect a first step to doing better. We’ve made sure that teams are properly resourced, more accessible, and better structured to meet rising demand.
The progress made in timeliness is encouraging; however, there is much more to do. We are fully committed to engaging with families and listening to their experiences as further improvements are developed in the months ahead.”
Find out more about the improvements being made to SEND services at the SEND improvements pages of our website.
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