Essex County Council claims special educational needs and disability assessment waiting times have been shortened despite extra funding not yet taking effect. 

The council recently pledged over £1 million to recruit educational psychologists after it admitted it was in an extreme emergency. 

The county council recently reported a struggle to recruit sufficient professionals to reduce the assessment backlog facing Essex County Council, which is currently one of the worst in England. 

Only 1% of those awaiting an assessment in Essex currently meet the 20-week set deadline – with over 1000 in the assessment process. 

Blackstone Recruitment Limited, which the council previously said could meet the demand, claimed they cannot deliver the "capacity to the timescales indicated in their submission", further stating they "would need significant mobilisation time." 

Instead, the council now needs a further £171,000 for Liquid Personnel Ltd, who assured the council they can meet recruitment demands. 

Council cabinet member for education, Tony Ball, believes it is too early for the extra money to make an impact on waiting times. 

He said: "What I can say is that there has been improvement. It's still not good enough but there has been marked improvement on the 20-week wait."