Warwickshire County Council's performance on issuing care plans for SEND children is heading for a new record low just a month after children's chiefs branded their own figures "unacceptable".

Performance data covering April to June 2026, reported to the Reform UK cabinet of councillors in charge of major service areas in September, showed that 9.2 per cent of those with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) who required education, health and care plans (EHCPs) received them within the legal limit of 20 weeks.

An EHCP assessment is a detailed legal review carried out by the young person's education authority to set out what needs they have and the support required.

From there, young people up to the age of 25 can be issued with a plan that formally sets out the extra resources they are entitled to. Not all SEND children require a plan.

It means that more than nine in 10 of those affected, and those who educate and care for them, are having to manage without proper assessments of their individual needs for longer than the law says they should.

Political lead on children, families, education and SEND Cllr Wayne Briggs and executive director for children and young people John Coleman, the most senior council staff member involved, both described the figures as "unacceptable" last month.

Mr Coleman's narrative within that September performance report stated that "the priority for the next quarter is to improve this performance, reduce backlogs and continue targeted work to improve timeliness".

A plan was unveiled, including extra staffing, long-term resources and the outsourcing hundreds of plans to external providers to help the council catch up.

Download our Nub News App!

- It’s FREE and available now
- Breaking news notifications
- Your Town in Your Pocket

However, data from a portal that allows county councillors to monitor the most up-to-date figures has been shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, showing Warwickshire County Council has hit a new low of delivering 5.3 per cent of plans on time.

Warwickshire's performance on this has lagged behind the national average for some time, albeit without the extremes seen today.

Published council data, produced four times a year, shows that 37 per cent of cases were wrapped up within 20 weeks in September 2023. The national average for other councils was 50 per cent at the time.

The latest national average is 46 per cent, albeit with a data lag of around a year. Warwickshire's rate has generally worsened in that time, bobbing between 14 and 30 per cent before the recent downturn.

In previous years, the worst figures have tended to appear in the quarter ending in June. The rate was 16 per cent in June 2024 and 20 per cent in June 2025.

By September 2025, it had improved slightly to 23.7 per cent. Figures for the quarter ending September 2026 are scheduled to be presented in a public-facing meeting of the cabinet on Thursday, November 12.

Cllr Briggs has been approached for comment.