Disclosure Log
Freedom of Information request - Freedom of Information Request - SEND Performance, Workforce, and Provision Data (FOI/7777)
Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 17 April 2026
Dear *********
Request FOI/7777
1. Compliance with phase transfer deadlines
Regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires local authorities to review and, where necessary, amend a child or young persons EHCP before specific dates in the calendar year of their transfer between phases of education: 31 March in the case of transfer from secondary school to a post-16 institution, and 15 February in any other case. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under Regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer to a post-16 institution by the 31 March deadline, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline;
(b) the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under Regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer at all other phase boundaries by the 15 February deadline, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline.
2. Outcomes of challenges to refusal-to-assess decisions. For each of the past six years:
(a) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through statutory mediation;
(b) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability);
(c) of the challenges at (a) and (b), the number where your authority subsequently agreed to conduct the assessment, whether by agreement at mediation, by conceding the appeal before hearing, or by Tribunal order;
(d) where available, the average time in weeks between the original refusal decision and the decision to proceed with the assessment following a successful challenge.
3. Educational Psychology advice — timeliness and provenance. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of requests for statutory EP advice made by your authority as part of EHC needs assessments;
(b) the number of those requests returned within six weeks, in accordance with Regulation 8(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014;
(c) of EHCPs issued within the statutory 20-week timescale, the number where the statutory EP advice was produced by your authoritys in-house EP service, and the number where it was produced by an external EP commissioned by your authority;
(d) the number of statutory EP advice requests referred to external EPs in each year, and whether your authority has a standing arrangement for commissioning external EP advice when in-house capacity is insufficient.
4. Annual review completion rates. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of EHCPs due for annual review within the year;
(b) the number of those reviews completed within 12 months of the previous review, in accordance with section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014;
(c) the number of annual reviews that resulted in an amendment to the EHCP;
(d) the number of annual reviews that resulted in a decision to cease to maintain the EHCP.
5. SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of appeals registered against decisions of your authority at the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability);
(b) the number of those appeals conceded by your authority before final hearing;
(c) the categories of decision appealed, if recorded — specifically, the number of appeals relating to: (i) refusal to assess; (ii) refusal to issue a plan; (iii) content of a plan; (iv) school or institution named in a plan; (v) decision to cease to maintain a plan.
6. SEND complaints and Ombudsman outcomes. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of formal corporate complaints received by your authority classified as relating to SEND services;
(b) the number upheld or partially upheld at any stage of your complaints procedure;
(c) the number of decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman against your authority in relation to SEND matters;
(d) the total value of financial remedies recommended by the LGSCO in those decisions.
7. SEND team staffing and caseloads As at the most recent date for which data is available:
(a) the total number of SEND caseworkers or EHCP coordinators employed by your authority (full-time equivalent), excluding administrative support staff;
(b) the total number of EHCPs maintained by your authority at that date;
(c) the resulting caseload ratio (EHCPs per caseworker FTE);
(d) the number of SEND caseworker vacancies at that date, if recorded;
(e) the total number of Educational Psychologists employed by your authority (full-time equivalent) in your in-house EP service.
8. Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) provision. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs for whom your authority arranged Education Otherwise Than At School provision under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014;
(b) the total number of EOTAS packages active at the end of each year;
(c) the total annual expenditure by your authority on EOTAS provision;
(d) the number of requests received by your authority for an EOTAS personal budget, the number agreed, and the total value of EOTAS personal budgets agreed in each year.
9. Non-maintained and independent placement expenditure, monitoring, and terminations. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs placed by your authority at non-maintained independent schools or independent specialist providers;
(b) the total annual expenditure on those placements;
(c) the average annual cost per non-maintained independent placement;
(d) the number of those placements made following a SEND Tribunal order or conceded during Tribunal proceedings, as distinct from placements made by your authoritys own decision;
(e) whether your authority has a formal process for monitoring the delivery of provision specified in Section F of EHCPs at non-maintained independent placements, and if so, the frequency and method of that monitoring;
(f) the number of non-maintained independent placements terminated at the providers initiative in each year, and the average time taken to secure an alternative placement following such a termination.
10. Non-maintained independent placement refusals. For each of the past six years:
(a) the number of cases where your authority approached a non-maintained independent school or independent specialist provider to request a placement for a child or young person with an EHCP, and the provider declined to offer a place;
(b) where recorded, the primary category of special educational need of the child or young person in each case where a placement was declined, using the DfE SEN2 categories (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Emotional and Mental Health, Severe Learning Difficulty);
(c) the number of cases where a non-maintained independent placement was named in a final EHCP or ordered by the SEND Tribunal, and the provider subsequently declined to admit the child or young person;
(d) in cases where a placement was declined, the average time in weeks taken to identify and secure an alternative placement.
11. Reduced timetables and alternative provision for children and young people with EHCPs. For each of the past six years:
(a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were on a reduced timetable at any point during the year;
(b) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were placed in alternative provision at any point during the year;
(c) of the children and young people at (a), the number for whom the reduced timetable was in place for more than one school term;
(d) of the children and young people at (a) and (b), the number for whom the arrangement was recorded as agreed with the parent or young person in writing.
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request concerning Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), SEND provision, SEND Tribunal activity, staffing, complaints and related matters.
We have considered this request alongside your earlier FOI request concerning EHCP and SEND matters, to which we have already responded, including by reference to information published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log. In that response, we explained that a substantial amount of the information sought was exempt under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as it is reasonably accessible to you by other means.
Aggregation of requests
We note that your current request covers closely related subject matter, including (but not limited to):
- SEND Tribunal appeals, concessions and outcomes;
- Independent and non-maintained placement numbers, costs and Tribunal-ordered placements;
- EHCP maintenance, cease-to-maintain decisions and annual review outcomes;
- Personal budgets, staffing, caseloads, complaints and service performance indicators.
As the two requests:
- have been made by the same requester;
- relate to the same or similar information; and
- were received within 60 working days of one another,
Cost of compliance
Even after excluding:
- information that is already publicly available and therefore exempt under section 21 FOIA, and
- duplicated elements between the two requests,
In particular, compliance would require extensive manual investigation across multiple service areas and systems in order to:
- identify, extract and reconcile data spanning up to six financial or calendar years;
- determine outcomes at different procedural stages (for example mediation, conceded appeals, Tribunal orders);
- distinguish between decisions made by the authority and those made following Tribunal intervention; and
- compile statistics that are not held in a single, readily retrievable format.
Duty to advise and assist (section 16 FOIA)
In accordance with our duty under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we would be happy to provide advice and assistance to help you refine your request so that it may be answered within the appropriate cost limit.
While we are unable to comply with the request in its current form, we may be able to respond to a narrowed request, for example by limiting it to one or more of the following:
- A single topic area, such as:
- SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions only; or
- Independent or non-maintained placement numbers and costs only; or
- EHCP annual review outcomes only.
- A shorter time period, for example:
- one financial year (rather than multiple or six-year periods); or
- the most recent year for which data is readily available.
- High-level totals only, rather than outcome-based or case-tracking information (for example, total numbers or overall expenditure, without breakdowns by challenge route, concession stage, or provider-level detail).
- Information already held in a single dataset or report, rather than information requiring collation across multiple systems or service areas.
In addition, a substantial amount of information relevant to EHCPs, SEND services, Tribunal activity and associated expenditure is already available via our Freedom of Information disclosure log, and reviewing this material may assist you in refining any future request.
If you wish to submit a revised request with a more limited scope, please clearly set out the narrowed questions you would like us to consider, and we will assess it afresh in line with the Freedom of Information Act.
If you are unhappy with the Council’s response to your request and wish to make a complaint please write to us or complete the on-line complaint form that can be found on our website.
If after going through the Council’s complaints process you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Information Commissioner direct.
Information Commissioner Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire | Helpline:
Email: Website: | 0303 123 1113 |
Yours sincerely
Complaints and Information Team
Chief Executives Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
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