Figures show that Essex County Council's time to process special needs applications has taken a downturn despite it having one of the worst backlogs in the country. Amid criticism, the county council did not properly reveal the scale of the problem for at least six months for scrutiny.

An education, health and care plan (ECHP) needs assessment is the first step towards additional support and funding for a child or young person with special educational needs (SEN).

The ECHP process should take no more than 20 weeks. However, just 26 per cent of applications were issued within that period in March this year, down from 35 per cent in January.

The number of plans issued within 20 weeks remains relatively steady – 40 in January compared to 47 in March.

But, the total number of assessments has increased. There were 113 plans issued in January, compared to 178 plans issued in March 2025.

There has also been an increase in the number of EHCPs that are over 36 weeks old, which Essex County Council says indicates a focus on clearing the backlog and prioritising those who have been waiting the longest for their EHCPs.

A statement from the People and Families Policy and Scrutiny Committee said: "Issuing older plans affects the 20-week data, but efforts are being made to track and process straightforward plans within 20 weeks while simultaneously addressing the backlog.

"This twin-tracking approach aims to balance timely issuance with backlog clearance, ensuring the best outcomes for parents, children and young people."

The council has been battling to address the speed at which it processes EHCPs since revealing early in 2024 that only one per cent of children received an education, health and care plan (EHCP) within the legal 20-week timeframe.

However, papers to the People and Families Policy and Scrutiny Committee have shown the problem was known about for at least six months before then.

In September 2023, one per cent of EHCPs were issued within the statutory 20 week timescale. In October that had dropped to zero per cent. It was not reported until March 2024.

The committee has made several recommendations – including that it receives and reviews reports on performance biannually to ensure progress continues to be made.

Committee member Councillor Aidan McGurran said: "We now know the September number was one per cent, then the October number was zero per cent, and it took until March 2024 for that to begin to improve.

"What concerns me still is that we didn't know anything about that. So that's a six-month period where it was zero or one per cent, and we didn't know a thing about it.

"So I think again the recommendations have to be really strictly adhered to to make sure that doesn't happen again, and I personally feel we should have been told."

He added: "We're very quick to hear about the successes of county council but we need to know about that because action could and should have been taken earlier."

Committee member Councillor Malcolm Buckley added: "I don't want to sit on a scrutiny committee that only hears how great we are.

"The purpose of being on this committee is to make those services better and if they're already outstanding what can we contribute? Very little. If they're failing there is much more input that we could have that will have value."

Vice chairman Councillor Wendy Stamp said: "When we raised our eyes at that first meeting I think a long way has gone.

"I take on board about it should have been identified earlier.

"But I think we've got to acknowledge how much work has been done in that year when it wasn't reported to this committee.

"But also we need to be aware that the job isn't done.

"Priorities have had to be made due to resourcing issues and it is a national issue."