Southend's SEND Team capacity is growing. Cindy Chilvers joins as the new Statutory Lead. We have improved EHC assessment timeliness and are focused on enhancing annual reviews.
We're continuing to strengthen the SEND Team's capacity to deliver Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments and plan reviews. This week, we welcomed Cindy Chilvers as Southend City Council's new Statutory Lead for SEN Services. Cindy brings extensive experience and is committed to building on the progress made so far.
Matt Small, Interim Consultant for SEND Transformation, has shared an update on improvements achieved during 2024-25 and outlined priorities for the year ahead as Cindy takes the lead:
Last year, I wrote to share the steps the Local Authority was taking to strengthen the SEND Team's capacity to carry out Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments and plan reviews. I'm now writing to update you on the progress made during 2024-25 and to outline our priorities for the academic year ahead.
Over the past academic year, we've made significant investments in staffing and resources to help our statutory assessment and review teams meet the growing demand for EHC plans. This has brought greater stability to our teams and enabled us to make real progress.
Thanks to this investment, we've seen a marked improvement in the timeliness of EHC needs assessments, which are now more closely aligned with national averages. While this is encouraging, we know there is still more to do. We remain committed to further improving performance throughout 2025 and into 2026.
However, we recognise that the annual review process continues to be a challenge. Over the past year, we've strengthened our data monitoring and reporting, giving us a clearer picture of where gaps exist and helping us to respond more effectively. Progress has been made and, following the first year of national reporting on annual review data, we have exceeded the national average in some areas of performance.
Despite the progress noted we are ambitious for our future progress and will continue working closely with schools and colleagues to improve both the consistency and quality of the annual review process for all children and young people with EHC plans.
This academic year, we are reorganising our staffing teams to support continued improvement. Our aim is to enhance communication and engagement so that families have a more positive and consistent experience.
We understand that not all families have yet felt the benefits of these changes. We are listening, and we know there is still much work to be done to improve the experience for all children and young people with EHC plans, and those currently going through the assessment process.
We await further clarity in the new year around the governments proposals in the SEND reform White Paper and will update you in due course on the how those reforms might shape our future planning.
We hope this update provides clarity and transparency about the progress we've made. While we celebrate the positive steps forward, we remain focused on supporting every child, young person, and family, especially those who have not yet seen the impact of these improvements. We will continue to work hard to ensure a better experience for all in the year ahead.