FOI release

SEND Performance, Workforce, and Provision Data

Some or all of the information requested was not provided because we determined that the cost to do so would exceed the appropriate limit.

Case reference FOI2026/00935

Received 16 April 2026

Published 14 May 2026

Request

Freedom of Information Request 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 numbers 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. "Each of the past six years" means the academic years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25. Where your authority holds the data only by calendar year or financial year, please provide the nearest equivalent periods and specify which periods have been used. "EHCP" means an Education, Health and Care Plan issued under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014. "Young person" means a person over compulsory school age but under 25, as defined in section 83(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014. References to "children and young people" in this request include all individuals for whom your authority maintains an EHCP. "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. "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. "EOTAS" means Education Otherwise Than At School, being provision arranged by your authority under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for a child or young person with an EHCP for whom education in a school or post-16 institution would be inappropriate. "Non-maintained independent placement" or "NMI" means any placement funded wholly or partly by your authority at an independent school, non-maintained special school, or independent specialist provider that is not maintained by your authority, where the placement was made to meet the special educational provision specified in an EHCP. "Reduced timetable" means any arrangement where a child or young person with an EHCP attends their named school or setting for fewer hours than the standard full-time timetable, whether described as a reduced timetable, part-time timetable, phased return, or similar arrangement. "Alternative provision" means education arranged by your authority for a child or young person with an EHCP who is not attending their named school, including pupil referral units, hospital education, and other alternative provision settings, but excluding EOTAS packages reported under Question 8. Questions 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. For each of the past six years: (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, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that 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, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline. 2. Outcomes of challenges to refusal-to-assess decisions For each of the past six years: (a) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through statutory mediation; (b) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability); (c) of the challenges at (a) and (b), the number where your authority subsequently agreed to conduct the assessment, whether by agreement at mediation, by conceding the appeal before hearing, or by Tribunal order; (d) where available, the average time in weeks between the original refusal decision and the decision to proceed with the assessment following a successful challenge. 3. Educational Psychology advice — timeliness and provenance For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of requests for statutory EP advice made by your authority as part of EHC needs assessments; (b) the number of those requests returned within six weeks, in accordance with Regulation 8(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014; (c) of EHCPs issued within the statutory 20-week timescale, the number where the statutory EP advice was produced by your authority's in-house EP service, and the number where it was produced by an external EP commissioned by your authority; (d) the number of statutory EP advice requests referred to external EPs in each year, and whether your authority has a standing arrangement for commissioning external EP advice when in-house capacity is insufficient. 4. Annual review completion rates For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of EHCPs due for annual review within the year; (b) the number of those reviews completed within 12 months of the previous review, in accordance with section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014; (c) the number of annual reviews that resulted in an amendment to the EHCP; (d) the number of annual reviews that resulted in a decision to cease to maintain the EHCP. 5. SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of appeals registered against decisions of your authority at the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability); (b) the number of those appeals conceded by your authority before final hearing; (c) the categories of decision appealed, if recorded — specifically, the number of appeals relating to: (i) refusal to assess; (ii) refusal to issue a plan; (iii) content of a plan; (iv) school or institution named in a plan; (v) decision to cease to maintain a plan. 6. SEND complaints and Ombudsman outcomes For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of formal corporate complaints received by your authority classified as relating to SEND services; (b) the number upheld or partially upheld at any stage of your complaints procedure; (c) the number of decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman against your authority in relation to SEND matters; (d) the total value of financial remedies recommended by the LGSCO in those decisions. 7. SEND team staffing and caseloads As at the most recent date for which data is available: (a) the total number of SEND caseworkers or EHCP coordinators employed by your authority (full-time equivalent), excluding administrative support staff; (b) the total number of EHCPs maintained by your authority at that date; (c) the resulting caseload ratio (EHCPs per caseworker FTE); (d) the number of SEND caseworker vacancies at that date, if recorded; (e) the total number of Educational Psychologists employed by your authority (full-time equivalent) in your in-house EP service. 8. Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) provision For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs for whom your authority arranged Education Otherwise Than At School provision under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014; (b) the total number of EOTAS packages active at the end of each year; (c) the total annual expenditure by your authority on EOTAS provision; (d) the number of requests received by your authority for an EOTAS personal budget, the number agreed, and the total value of EOTAS personal budgets agreed in each year. 9. Non-maintained and independent placement expenditure, monitoring, and terminations For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs placed by your authority at non-maintained independent schools or independent specialist providers; (b) the total annual expenditure on those placements; (c) the average annual cost per non-maintained independent placement; (d) the number of those placements made following a SEND Tribunal order or conceded during Tribunal proceedings, as distinct from placements made by your authority's own decision; (e) whether your authority has a formal process for monitoring the delivery of provision specified in Section F of EHCPs at non-maintained independent placements, and if so, the frequency and method of that monitoring; (f) the number of non-maintained independent placements terminated at the provider's initiative in each year, and the average time taken to secure an alternative placement following such a termination. 10. Non-maintained independent placement refusals For each of the past six years: (a) the number of cases where your authority approached a non-maintained independent school or independent specialist provider to request a placement for a child or young person with an EHCP, and the provider declined to offer a place; (b) where recorded, the primary category of special educational need of the child or young person in each case where a placement was declined, using the DfE SEN2 categories (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Emotional and Mental Health, Severe Learning Difficulty); (c) the number of cases where a non-maintained independent placement was named in a final EHCP or ordered by the SEND Tribunal, and the provider subsequently declined to admit the child or young person; (d) in cases where a placement was declined, the average time in weeks taken to identify and secure an alternative placement. 11. Reduced timetables and alternative provision for children and young people with EHCPs For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were on a reduced timetable at any point during the year; (b) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were placed in alternative provision at any point during the year; (c) of the children and young people at (a), the number for whom the reduced timetable was in place for more than one school term; (d) of the children and young people at (a) and (b), the number for whom the arrangement was recorded as agreed with the parent or young person in writing. Format and handling The response should be provided in electronic format. Structured data formats such as Excel or CSV are preferred where the information is held in that form. If structured data is not available, tabular data within the body of an email or in a Word document is acceptable, provided the data is clearly attributed to each question. Where a specific question cannot be answered because the data is not held, a clear confirmation of that fact is requested rather than the question being left without response. A "not held" answer is valuable for the comparative exercise. Where the data is held but withheld under an exemption, please identify the specific exemption applied and the part of the request affected, so that the comparative dataset can correctly distinguish between data not held and data withheld. If the cost of compliance for this request as a whole would exceed the limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please treat this as a request for advice and assistance under section 16 of the Act. In doing so, please process whichever questions can be answered within the cost limit, prioritising them in numerical order, and omit only the specific questions that trigger the exemption. This request forms part of a comparative analysis of SEND statutory performance, workforce capacity, and provision costs across English local authorities.

Response

. 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.

For each of the past six years:

(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, and the number for which the review was completed and the
final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline;

Year 11 to post 16	Numbers expected	Numbers completed by deadline
Academic year 2024/25	140	116
Academic year 2023/24	132	108
Academic year 2022/23	108	78

(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, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline.

Nursery to primary	Numbers expected	Numbers completed by deadline
Academic year 2024/25	35	34
Academic year 2023/24	51	44
Academic year 2022/23	16	15
Year 6 to Secondary	Numbers expected	Numbers completed by deadline
Academic year 2024/25	137	108
Academic year 2023/24	125	103
Academic year 2022/23	96	79

2. Outcomes of challenges to refusal-to-assess decisions

For each of the past six years:

(a) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through statutory mediation;

A: 2025 figure (Provisional) - 25. The eventual published number might differData for 2023 and 2024 is publically available as part of the DFE published data and can be viewed via the following link under CSV “requests”:

Education, health and care plans - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK

As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.

(b) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability);

A: For calendar year 2025 – Number of request Tribunals = 16

Data for 2023 and 2024 is publically available as part of the DFE published data and can be viewed via the following link under CSV “requests”:

Education, health and care plans - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK

As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.

(c) of the challenges at (a) and (b), the number where your authority subsequently agreed to conduct the assessment, whether by agreement at mediation, by conceding the appeal before hearing, or by Tribunal order;

Calendar year	Numbers subsequently changed
2025	19
2024	18
2023	2

(d) where available, the average time in weeks between the original refusal decision and the decision to proceed with the assessment following a successful challenge.

A: This information is not recorded.

3. Educational Psychology advice — timeliness and provenance

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of requests for statutory EP advice made by your authority as part of EHC needs assessments;

A: All requests ask for EP advice. The answer to this question is therefore the same as the number of assessments per calendar year, and therefore data for 2023 and 2024 can be found in the DFE published data.

Total requests in calendar year 2025 = 582.

(b) the number of those requests returned within six weeks, in accordance with Regulation 8(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014;

Calendar year	Numbers
2025	310
2024	246
2023	185

(c) of EHCPs issued within the statutory 20-week timescale, the number where the statutory EP advice was produced by your authority's in-house EP service, and the number where it was produced by an external EP commissioned by your authority;

A: All EP advice are completed in house

(d) the number of statutory EP advice requests referred to external EPs in each year, and whether your authority has a standing arrangement for commissioning external EP advice when in-house capacity is insufficient.

A: See above

4. Annual review completion rates

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of EHCPs due for annual review within the year;

A: Answer for 2025 (provisional) – 1768. As above, data for 2024 can be found in the DFE published data on Education, health and care plans - Education, health and care plans - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK in the ‘Annual Reviews’ csv.

We are currently in the process of developing systems to allow us to report on Annual reviews within the year and those completed within 12 months of the previous review. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to report on retrospective periods prior to 2024.

(b) the number of those reviews completed within 12 months of the previous review, in accordance with section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014;

A: This is not held. We are currently in the process of developing systems to allow us to report on Annual reviews within the year and those completed within 12 months of the previous review. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to report on retrospective periods.

A: Answer for 2025 (provisional) – 899. As above, data for 2024 can be found in the DFE published data on Education, health and care plans - Education, health and care plans - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK in the ‘Annual Reviews’ csv.

We are currently in the process of developing systems to allow us to report on Annual reviews and outcomes within the year. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to report on retrospective periods prior to 2024.

(d) the number of annual reviews that resulted in a decision to cease to maintain the EHCP.

A: Answer for 2025 (provisional) – 28. As above, data for 2024 can be found in the DFE published data on Education, health and care plans - Education, health and care plans - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK in the ‘Annual Reviews’ csv.

5. SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of appeals registered against decisions of your authority at the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability);

(b) the number of those appeals conceded by your authority before final hearing;

(c) the categories of decision appealed, if recorded — specifically, the number of appeals relating to: (i) refusal to assess; (ii) refusal to issue a plan; (iii) content of a plan; (iv) school or institution named in a plan; (v) decision to cease to maintain a plan.

A: The information requested in Q5 is not recorded.

6. SEND complaints and Ombudsman outcomes

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of formal corporate complaints received by your authority classified as relating to SEND services;

1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021, 7 complaints

1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022, 16 complaints

1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, 28 complaints

1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024, 16 complaints

1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, 32 complaints

1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026, 36 complaints

(b) the number upheld or partially upheld at any stage of your complaints procedure;

1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021, 3 upheld/partially upheld complaints

1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022, 6 upheld/partially upheld complaints

1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, 16 upheld/partially upheld complaints

1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024, 15 upheld/partially upheld complaints

1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, 24 upheld/partially upheld complaints

1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026, 23 upheld/partially upheld complaints

(c) the number of decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman against your authority in relation to SEND matters;

A: This information is publicly available on the LGSCO website and can be viewed via the following link.

Decisions - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman publishes decision notices regarding the complaints they receive. To see the decision notices relating to Herefordshire Council, enter "Herefordshire Council" as the organisation name.

(d) the total value of financial remedies recommended by the LGSCO in those decisions.

7. SEND team staffing and caseloads

As at the most recent date for which data is available:

(a) the total number of SEND caseworkers or EHCP coordinators employed by your authority (full-time equivalent), excluding administrative support staff;

(b) the total number of EHCPs maintained by your authority at that date;

(c) the resulting caseload ratio (EHCPs per caseworker FTE);

Year	Number of caseworkers	Number of EHCPs	Caseload ratio
2023	8.2	1284	1:157
2024	8.2	1461	1:178
2025	9.2	1717	1:186
2026	9.2	2038	1:221

(d) the number of SEND caseworker vacancies at that date, if recorded;

A: This is not recorded.

(e) the total number of Educational Psychologists employed by your authority (full-time equivalent) in your in-house EP service.

A: The Service Area have advised that the data on EHCP psychological advice submissions for the last 6 years is not available, the team only hold the last 3 years of data and this is below:

	FTE as at 31/03/….
Title	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Assistant Educational Psychologist	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
Educational Psychologist	5.4	7.7	8.7	6.2	5.4	5.7	4.9
Principal Educational Psychologist	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Senior Educational Psychologist	0	0	0	2	0.8	0.8	0
Virtual School Assistant Educational Psychologist	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.81081
Virtual School Senior Educational Psychologist	0	0	0	0	0.8	0.9	0.8
Total FTE	6.4	8.7	9.7	9.2	8	12.4	10.51081

8. Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) provision

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs for whom your authority arranged Education Otherwise Than At School provision under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014;

	Total Children and Young People with EHCPs - EOTAS
2023	12
2024	16
2025	59

(b) the total number of EOTAS packages active at the end of each year;

	Total Children and Young People with EHCPs - EOTAS
2023	12
2024	16
2025	59

A: This information is not held in a form that would enable it to be located, retrieved and extracted within the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Our finance team have advised that Alternative Provision and EOTAS are together in one account code and therefore they have no way of separating our the EOTAS from Alternative Provision. Further work would need to be carried out to identify mosaic numbers for individuals and then matching these on the finance system. It is estimated that it will take 15 minutes per child to attempt to review the transactions and match the payment to the child. From the information provided for the 3 years there were 89 individuals with EOTAS.

This would at a conservative estimate take at least 22 hours to complete. Where the Limit is exceeded Public Authorities are not obliged to supply the information requested by virtue of S12 of the Act. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.

(d) the number of requests received by your authority for an EOTAS personal budget, the number agreed, and the total value of EOTAS personal budgets agreed in each year.

A: We do not record requests received, only requests agreed, so cannot answer the first part of this question.

The number of personal budgets agreed:

2023: 2

2024: 5

2025: 11

The total value of personal budgets agreed:

2023: £22,792.50

2024: £39,079.05

2025: £103,700.35

9. Non-maintained and independent placement expenditure, monitoring, and terminations

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs placed by your authority at non-maintained independent schools or independent specialist providers;

2023 114

2024 218

2025 284

(b) the total annual expenditure on those placements;

A: 2022/23 - £3,114,041

2023/24 - £5,760,980

2024/25 - £12,193,707

(c) the average annual cost per non-maintained independent placement;

A: 2022/23 - £27,316

2023/24 - £26,427

2024/25 - £42,936

(d) the number of those placements made following a SEND Tribunal order or conceded during Tribunal proceedings, as distinct from placements made by your authority's own decision;

A: This information is not held.

(e) whether your authority has a formal process for monitoring the delivery of provision specified in Section F of EHCPs at non-maintained independent placements, and if so, the frequency and method of that monitoring;

A: Yes – annual visit and Section F audit carried out by qualified SENCO

(f) the number of non-maintained independent placements terminated at the provider's initiative in each year, and the average time taken to secure an alternative placement following such a termination.

A: This information is not held.

10. Non-maintained independent placement refusals

For each of the past six years:

(a) the number of cases where your authority approached a non-maintained independent school or independent specialist provider to request a placement for a child or young person with an EHCP, and the provider declined to offer a place;

A: This information is not held.

(b) where recorded, the primary category of special educational need of the child or young person in each case where a placement was declined, using the DfE SEN2 categories (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Emotional and Mental Health, Severe Learning Difficulty);

A: This information is not held.

(c) the number of cases where a non-maintained independent placement was named in a final EHCP or ordered by the SEND Tribunal, and the provider subsequently declined to admit the child or young person;

A: This information is not held.

(d) in cases where a placement was declined, the average time in weeks taken to identify and secure an alternative placement.

A: we do not hold this information.

11. Reduced timetables and alternative provision for children and young people with EHCPs

For each of the past six years:

(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were on a reduced timetable at any point during the year;

	Total Children and Young People with EHCPs on a Reduced Timetable at Any Time During the Year
2023	58
2024	154
2025	176

(b) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were placed in alternative provision at any point during the year;

	Total Children and Young People with EHCPs Placed in Alternative Provision at Any Time During the Year
2023	126
2024	232
2025	327

(c) of the children and young people at (a), the number for whom the reduced timetable was in place for more than one school term;

A: Some part time timetables maybe extended as part of the regular review process. Where a timetable has been extended beyond the prescribed end date, systems may not accurately reflect the total duration of the part time timetable. We are currently unable to report this information.

(d) of the children and young people at (a) and (b), the number for whom the arrangement was recorded as agreed with the parent or young person in writing.

A: We do not hold this information

Documents

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