North Yorkshire Council

Executive Member

22 April 2025

Digital EHCP System Procurement

Report of the Corporate Director Stuart Carlton

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 The purpose of the report is to request approval to update the system to manage Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and if agreed, request the approval to proceed with procurement of a new system to manage the statutory processes.

2.0       BACKGROUND

2.1       The Inclusion service within Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS) manage the statutory processes associated with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). These processes are currently managed using a variety of systems, applications and spreadsheets across both the Inclusion Case Worker team and the SEND Business Support team.

2.2 The Council, in conjunction with schools, previously developed and trialled a system (in 2022) to manage EHCPs, but it was not successful therefore was not continued.

2.3       The demand for EHCPs has continued to rise, resulting in an increased need for a more efficient and effective solution.

2.4       Detailed analysis of the EHCP processes has been conducted with possible solutions considered. The recommendation is to procure a solution to manage the statutory processes.

3.0 EXISTING PROCESSES AND CHALLENGES

3.1       There are currently 5,518 active EHCPs within North Yorkshire.

3.2       The current processes used to manage EHCPs are very labour intensive, and the data and associated information is not held in a central location. There are many internal and external partners involved in the production and assessment of an EHCP and it is estimated that there are a minimum of 90 steps within the process.

3.3       The current processes are not as transparent as we would like them to be, as they are not supported by one single system. It can therefore be difficult for schools and settings and children and young people and their families to access information about their assessment requests and plans. There are approximately 2,000 inbound and outbound calls per month to the SEND teams, and one third of these are in relation to EHCPs.

3.4       The Council receives a high number of complaints in relation to EHCPs. Many of these could be avoided through improved access to information for families.

4.0       CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES

4.1       We have engaged with schools and settings to ensure we understand where improvements need to be made within the current processes.

4.2       Further engagement and consultation will take place with key partners and stakeholders as the system implementation progresses.

5.0       CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES

5.1       The implementation of a new system will ensure communities are supported and work together to improve their local area, therefore contributing to the place and environment vision and ambitions in the Council Plan.

5.2       The implementation of a new system will enable more efficient, and customer focussed processes, therefore contributing to the economy and organisation vision and ambitions in the Council Plan.

5.3       The implementation of a new system will support children and young people to have a good quality of life and to ensure they can achieve their full potential through lifelong education and learning, by supporting their needs at the right time with the right support, through improved collaboration with health and social care partners. This will support the health and wellbeing and people vision and ambitions in the Council Plan.

6.0       ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

6.1       During the review of possible solution, re-use of existing systems (including the system which was previously trialled) was considered and discounted. This is because there are no existing systems within the Council that meet all the current functional requirements and fulfil the processes required.

7.0       IMPACT ON OTHER SERVICES/ORGANISATIONS

7.1       There are many internal and external partners who contribute to the production and assessment of EHCPs. Introducing a new single solution for managing EHCPs will have a positive impact on these partners, as it will make the processes more efficient and improve transparency.

7.2       Key partner groups affected:

· Children and young people

· Schools and settings

· Parents and carers

· Health professionals

· Educational Psychologists

· Social Care

· Early Help

· SEND Hub

· Contracts and Commissioning

8.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8.1       Indicative system costs received by suppliers indicate the cost of a new system is approximately £230,000 over 4 years, with an additional internal resource cost of approximately £13,000 per year to manage and support the system.

8.2       Internal resource is required to implement and maintain the system, and it is anticipated that this will cost up to £200,000 in year 1 to ensure the system is embed successfully and users are appropriately supported.

8.2       It is anticipated that we can achieve approximately £400,000 per annum in savings, due to improved efficiency and transparency, therefore reducing processing time, number of calls received, number of complaints received and number of mediation requests.

8.3       In summary, the total costs are approximately £490k over 4 years (approximately £340,000 in year 1 and £50,000 annually for remaining 3 years), which will enable us to make savings of approximately £400,000 per year.

9.0       LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

9.1 The Council has statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 to carry out assessments of children and young people with special educational needs that may require an Education, Health and Care Plan. Following that assessment if the special educational provision is required to be made in accordance with the EHCP, the Council must provide a EHCP and maintain that. The Council has statutory duties to comply with strict timescales and assessments should be completed within a 20-week period and plans should be reviewed at least annually.

9.2 The processes must comply with the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014. Further statutory guidance is detailed in the SEND Code of Practice.

9.3 The Council has further statutory duties to provide Department for Education a data return must be completed annually (SEN2).

9.4 The procurement and implementation of a new system must comply with General Data Protection Regulation; Procurement Act 2023; Equality Act 2010 including Public Sector Equality Duty; Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018; WCAG 2.1 and the Council’s own Procurement and Contract Rules.

10.0     EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

10.1 It is anticipated that the proposed implementation of a new system will have equality implications, as people with protected characteristics are affected by the processes involved. The due regard process has commenced, and officers will continue to carry this out during the development of this project. Furthermore, when a preferred solution has been identified, a full Equalities Impact Assessment will be carried out.

11.0     CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

11.1     No climate change impact is considered to arise as a result of the proposed implementation of a new system to manage EHCPs.

12.0     PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

12.1     The Council are currently underperforming against the statutory performance measures. The proposed implementation of a new system will help to ensure the Council meet the statutory performance measures and will support easier communication with families and professionals.

13.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 To improve outcomes for Children and Young People with Education Health and Care Plans and to improve the efficiency, customer experience and data quality of the statutory processes.

14.0	RECOMMENDATION
	Provide approval to update the system used to manage Education Health and Care Plans within North Yorkshire and provide approval to proceed to procurement of a new system to manage the statutory processes.

            APPENDICES:

Appendix A – Equality Impact Assessment Screener

            Appendix B – Climate Impact Assessment Screener

Stuart Carlton

Corporate Director – Children & Young Peoples Services

County Hall

Northallerton

21 March 2025

Report Author – Amanda Fielding

Presenter of Report – Amanda Fielding

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.