Bristol’s EHCP Timeliness at 17 per cent
Hundreds of children and young people are also waiting for specialist school places
Families and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (Send) in Bristol continue to wait an unlawful amount of time for Education Health Care Plans ( EHCP).
Data from Bristol City Council shows the current year to date timeliness for issuing a plan is just 17 per cent.
In papers to Children and Young People Policy Committee next week – to be presented by Executive Director Children & Education Hannah Woodhouse – Bristol City Council says: ‘Improving the timelines and quality of children’s EHCPs remains a priority. 21% of children’s plans were finalised in April 2026 within the 20-week timescale. Year to date timeliness for 2026 is 17% compared with 7% over the same period in 2025.’
The performance data as of 30 June this year shows that 21 per cent of EHCPs had been issued on time at that point. With July, August and September to be added, the timeliness rate drops.
Bristol City Council also reports that there had been an 08 per cent reduction in the number of Education Health Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) requests over the 2026 year to date compared with the same period in 2025.
Bristol continues to be below the England national average of EHCNA requests. The council says: ‘The
rate of requests per 10,000 population in Bristol for Quarter 3 2025/26 was 21.4, below the national
rate of 22.6 and the South West rate of 27.1.’
Even with less requests being made this year and with the city being under the national rate and South West rate, Bristol City Council only managed a ten per cent improvement in timeliness on last year overall.
It’s not good news for those waiting for specialist places in Bristol either.
Data shows that there were 266 pupils with an EHCP waiting for a specialist school placement in May. Later and more up-to-date data is not available for this cohort of children due to reporting being ‘paused’ while the council moves to a new system.
The progress Bristol is making against its EHCNA Improvement Plan Send data in Bristol is monitored by the secretive Children’s Quality, Improvement and Performance (QuIP) Board.
The council says of this: ‘Following a 37% increase in new EHCPs finalised in the 2025 calendar year, 852 plans have been issued between January and June 2026, a further 61% increase on this time last year.
‘Educational Psychology and Social Care contributions output have also improved with respective increase of 22% and 157% from 2025. This has contributed to the continued decrease in the number children awaiting an EHCNA, which now stands at 984 at the end of June 2026, down from 1,317 children at the end of January
2026. 48% of the children and young people awaiting a needs assessment have been waiting for less
than 20 weeks and 52% have been waiting over 20 weeks (down from 58% last month).’
Papers for the Quarterly Children and Education Transformation Update on the same agenda say the council is aiming to clear the current backlog of EHCPs by the end of 2026 – and ‘improve the timeliness of assessments to achieve at least national average timelines by the end of 2027 and be performing in the upper quartile of all local authorities thereafter.’
As part of the Children and Education Transformation, there will be the introduction of ‘digital tools’ which will ‘support support administrative aspects of EHCP development, enabling staff to focus on quality, decision-making and direct work with children and families.’
For What’s On In Bristol:https://backstagebristol.com/
Bristol Culture: www.tiktok.com/@chopsybristoltt
Bristol Theatre Updates: https://www.facebook.com/backstagebristol
Bristol Theatre Updates:https://www.threads.com/@backstagebristol
Bristol News and Culture: https://www.youtube.com/user/chopsybaby