DEVON County Council (DCC) have been talking a lot in recent months about the work it’s doing to review the way that funding is allocated to children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

This is because the current system for deciding how much funding a child receives does not always work as well as it should, the council says.

Families and schools have told the council that the current system is inconsistent, with decisions varying between children’s schools or panels.

They say that it’s hard to understand why one child gets one level of funding and another doesn’t.

And they say the current system can lead to long waits, appeals and confusion.

As such, DCC have appointed, Peopletoo, an independent organisation with years of experience in helping local authorities across the country to improve the way we work, to review its current EHCP banding framework.

Over the summer, DCC held online workshops with parents and carers, surveyed families and met with Parent Carer Forum representatives to learn from their experiences.

The authority heard that 68  per cent of parents don’t understand how decisions are made and 83 per cent felt decisions are inconsistent.

The clearest message from parents and carers was a request for transparency, simplicity and fairness, the council says.

DCC have drafted a new, needs-led banding framework, guided by the feedback from parents, carers, schools and other partners.