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<p>We have given £252 million to local authorities to support implementation of the
new duties under the Children and Families Act (2014). We have also funded a consortium
of partners, including the Council for Disabled Children, to work with health and
social care services, including producing guidance on improving education, health
and care (EHC) plans; and funded a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
leadership programme and legal training for all local authorities and their health
partners to ensure they are clear on their statutory responsibilities.</p><p> </p><p>We
have strengthened the National Health Service (NHS) Provider Contract for NHS Trusts
to include a requirement to report on meeting the six-week deadline for health input
into EHC plans; established a national network for Designated Medical Officers and
Designated Clinical Officers, funded a local authority led regional network and developed
resources to support joint self-assessment and peer review.</p><p> </p><p>We monitor
implementation on the ground, for example, looking at the time it takes for local
authorities to issue EHC plans. The Ofsted/Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections
of SEND services we introduced in 2016 have also shone a light on strengths and weaknesses
in the delivery of EHC plans and have proved a catalyst for local change. Where significant
concerns have been identified, written statements of action (WSOA), setting out the
actions the local area will take to improve services, are supporting local areas to
improve their services. Ofsted and the CQC will re-visit each area with a WSOA to
assess the progress they are making; and where sufficient progress is not being made,
we will take appropriate action.</p><p> </p><p>64.9% of new EHC plans (excluding exception
cases) were issued within 20 weeks in 2017, up from 58.6% in 2016.</p>
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