Education chiefs want to “unlock” access to support for children with special needs by moving away from the need to have a care plan in place first.

They hope this will mean some children will get the help and therapy they need earlier and without having to wait for assessments for a plan.

Since 2014, the number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) issued in Surrey has increased by over 60% to more than 8,000.

Liz Mills, Surrey County Council ’s assistant director schools and learning, said they were looking at how to change the way they support families while still delivering the provision needed now.

Surrey's SEND transformation includes staff working with families seeking tribunals to access care

Her comments came as she presented the business case for a transformation of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) services and the strategy for supporting children and families in the county.

Part of the new approach by Surrey will be to invest more into earlier identification of need and support and to create additional specialist places in Surrey. It will also include “upskilling” the workforce and parents.

As part of the transformation a new team is in place to support families who may be looking for a tribunal in a bid to access the support they need and learning reviews are carried out where there has been an appeal for care.

Another area she said they were focusing on was accessing support granted through EHCPs.

Parents will be upskilled to support children with special needs

She said they needed to “unlock” the “locked resources”.

Speaking at SCC’s children and education select committee on Wednesday she said: “We are an outlier in terms of the numbers of educational health and care plans.

"Here in Surrey we have a much higher number that really get to the statutory end than in other local authorities. And that’s really what this entire transformation case is really founding upon. Needing to do something different there.

“We have locked the resources away so all of the resources if you were to map them right now are addressing those statutory needs.”

She said that forces parents, carers, teachers and practitioners to make a request for an EHCP in order to access the support.

She added: “It’s just a continual cycle which is absolutely unsustainable and it also delivers very poor outcomes for children.”

Ms Mills said if they had been able to access the support earlier the child may be on a different pathway “and may not need statutory support at all”.

The new SEND strategy and action plan will be developed by April.