Council spends £470,000 a year on agency staff to cope with rocketing demand for special education care plans

The number of children and young people with care plans for special educational needs in Bolton has risen by 150 per cent in less than 10 years. Bolton Council has agreed to hire an additional nine workers after the amount of youngsters with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) rose drastically from 1,364 in 2015 to 3,328 presently.

The massive increase in children and young people needing the plans means the authority is spending around £470,000 each year on agency staff to create the care assessments within the statutory 20 week timescale.

This week the council agreed to permanently hire six additional EHC plan writers and one administrator within the special education (SEND) service. They said that would reduce the need for agency staff and reduce costs.

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The restructure will need an additional annual budget of £263,400 funded corporately due to the increased demand for EHCPs. The council will also recruit two additional educational psychologists costing an extra £157,000 per year but the council said they will charge for their services, making them cost neutral to the authority.

A report the Bolton council’s cabinet member for children’s services set out the context of the massive increase in the numbers of special needs cases. It said: “There has been an 150 per cent increase in the number of educational care plans since the SEND reforms in 2015. “Referrals have increased 18.5 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

“Referrals for January and February 2024 are up 15 per cent on the same period 2023. “Officers now have a case load of approximately 600. “Creating additional capacity by establishing the plan writer posts will ensure that the service can discharge their