The EHCP Gold Rush is Breaking SEND in Lancashire.
By Rachel Holme
Lancashire parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have learnt one hard lesson: if you want help, you fight for an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP). The plan has become the system’s golden ticket, a legal contract that can unlock therapy hours, one-to-one support and transport. Yet the race for EHCPs is warping the very services meant to help our children.
The data behind the desperation
Demand
There were 11 258 active EHCPs in Lancashire in January 2024, up 1 455 on the previous year. That equals 4.9 per cent of all pupils, slightly above the national rate. Lancashire.gov.uk
Cost
County finance papers forecast the High Needs Block will overspend by £29.7 million by 31 March 2025, wiping out reserves and tipping the Dedicated Schools Grant into a £10 million deficit. Lancashire.gov.uk
Quality
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission’s December 2024 area SEND inspection found “widespread and systemic failings”, with children waiting “an unacceptable length of time” and plans often out of date on arrival. Lancashire.gov.uk Ofsted
National pressure
Across England there were 638 700 EHCPs in January 2025, a 10.8 per cent jump in one year, yet only 46 per cent of new plans met the 20-week legal window. Explore Education Statistics
Four ways the EHCP obsession is hurting Lancashire children
Lost early years windows. Speech and language waits in some districts reached forty weeks, long enough for crucial developmental stages to close. council.lancashire.gov.ukcouncil.lancashire.gov.uk
Perverse incentives for schools. Mainstream heads sometimes withhold evidence so a child looks “specialist-placement ready”, securing bigger budgets but pushing pupils out of neighbourhood schools.
A bankrupt inclusion purse. High Needs overspends swallow money once earmarked for whole-school training and universal provision. Pupils on SEN Support receive whatever is left.
Two-tier help. About five per cent of pupils have a plan and ring fenced resources. The other twelve per cent rely on core school budgets that shrink each year.
A better way: SpektraBot
SpektraBot’s pending pilot across Morecambe Bay could make Lancashire the first county to pair AI-driven early help with a locally approved inclusion model. Instead of waiting for tribunals, the bot flags needs to staff in real time, matches evidence-based strategies and tracks impact.
Call-out to schools
Could your school be one of the founding three?
We already have one pioneering primary on board. Two more Morecambe Bay and surrounding area schools are needed, either mainstream or specialist can claim a lifetime SpektraBot licence if they join the pilot this term.
Parents and carers: tag your child’s teacher or SENDCo below or drop this article into the school WhatsApp group. Heads and governors: email hello@spectrumdynamics.co.uk to secure a place.
A final plea
How is Jack learning today?
That question must feel more urgent than Has Jack got his EHCP yet? Parents need more than tribunal victories; teachers need tools rather than forms; Lancashire County Council needs to escape a financial tail-spin before the statutory accounting override ends in 2026.
SpektraBot will not fix SEND alone, yet it shows we can design systems that assume ability, invest early and let professionals teach rather than gate-keep. Inclusion should be the default, not a document.
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