By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
A backlog in completing vital health and care plans for some of Nottinghamshire’s most vulnerable people is getting “worse rather than better”, opposition councillors say.
Nottinghamshire County Council has again been slapped with a significant fine for the way an education, health and care plan (EHCP) was carried out following a watchdog complaint.
The Conservative-run authority has been told to pay a mother £7,700 following a lack of communication around her daughter’s EHCP between July 2021 and July 2023.
These plans are for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.
They outline their needs and can ensure they are given extra help, such as with speech and language or physiotherapy.
In its findings, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the council did not find a suitable school for the child or put in place provisions to meet her EHCP.
The council was not found at fault for the way the child’s EHCP was reviewed, despite these reviews posing a major issue for the authority in recent months.
However, the upheld complaint is the fourth time this year the watchdog has upheld a complaint against the council for EHCP issues.
Similar reports have been discussed by the council’s governance and ethics committee this year, including upheld complaints with significant fines.
They also follow a scathing joint report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this year which identified “widespread failings” in children’s services.
The report found children and young people are waiting too long to receive their specialist assessments through EHCPs, as well as help with speech and language therapy.
Government targets state children shouldn’t wait more than 20 weeks for these plans but, in Nottinghamshire, four in five wait longer than this.
Some children with “particularly complex needs” wait around 27 weeks, the report found.
Council bosses vowed to improve and extra staff have been committed to the department to help reduce the backlog.
This includes a commitment to 17 new staff – 10 of which are in place currently as agency staff with an aim for a future, permanent recruitment drive.
Robert Briggs is the service manager for pre-16 EHC assessments at the authority.
Speaking in the governance and ethics committee meeting on Wednesday (September 6), he said: “A number of factors have contributed to the shortcomings identified.
“This includes the pressure resulting from significant increases in requests for EHC needs assessments, meaning there was insufficient capacity to dedicate to this case.”
He also said there had been a “peak” in staff turnover which has now passed but brought a “discontinuity in the service”.
“We’re ensuring all staff have the knowledge and skills to enable them to have accountability for children with EHCPs,” he added.
“With turnover now reduced, we’re confident the lessons learnt from this case will be applied.”
Councillors from all parties raised concerns about the upheld complaint with Cllr Richard Butler (Con), who represents Cotgrave, describing the ruling as “rather too familiar”.
Cllr Errol Henry (Lab), who represents Carlton West, added: “It’s clear things are getting worse and lessons aren’t being learnt.
“Since May 2021, when this Conservative administration took control, there have now been seven EHCP complaints to the ombudsman.
“All seven have been found to be at fault. I think this is the fourth this year, meaning things are getting worse rather than better.”
In response, Cllr Philip Owen (Con), chairman of the committee, said: “I, personally, won’t be satisfied until there are no findings of fault against us.
“I’d dispute things are getting worse. You can say they are not as good as they should be and we accept that.
“We’ve got no choice but to accept things have not gone well. We had the independent Ofsted report which is there in black and white.”
