The way Hertfordshire County Council deals with applications for Education Health and Care Plans could be challenged in the High Court, after a parent submitted an application for a Judicial Review.

Education Health and Care Plans – or EHCPs – are legal documents that identify a child's educational, health and care needs, as well as specifying any particular provision or support they require.

And whenever an application for an EHCP is made, councils have a statutory obligation to complete the process within 20 weeks.

But it has been suggested that Hertfordshire County Council has set itself a "target" of meeting the 20-week limit in just 60 per cent cases.

And now an application for a Judicial Review of the council's practice has been lodged with the High Court.

In response county council officers have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the 60 per cent figure is an "interim milestone target" – and that it is their intention to meet the statutory 20-week time-frame in every case.

But the individual who has lodged the application for Judicial Review points to the duty on all councils to complete 100 per cent of EHCP applications within 20 weeks.

And he has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he is seeking to question the legitimacy of the 60 per cent target in court.

"No local authority gets it right 100 per cent of times," he said.

"But what Hertfordshire County Council is saying is their target is to achieve 60 per cent.

"And that means setting out intentionally to break the law 40 per cent of the time."

If the application for Judicial Review is successful, the parent hopes it will lead to the "target" being "quoshed" – and immediately reverting to 100 per cent.

After the application for a Judicial Review had been lodged, a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council stressed the council's intention to meet the 20-week limit in all cases.

"We can't comment on the details of any potential legal action," said a spokesperson for the county council.

"But we would like to make clear that our intention is to complete 100 per cent of EHC needs assessments within the statutory limit of 20 weeks.

"We have set an interim milestone target for completing a minimum of 60 per cent of EHC needs assessments within 20 weeks by March next year, which has been endorsed by OFSTED.

"This milestone is to allow us, and the DfE, to check we are making progress, and is only a stepping-stone towards achieving greater compliance.

"The national context however is important in recognising our challenge to achieving this; last year (2023) 50 per cent of EHC needs assessments were completed within the statutory timeframe across the country, and there is a continuous rise in requests for EHCNAs coming through."

The county council spokesperson also pointed to the "comprehensive plan" that was in place to improve "statutory SEND delivery".

And that, he said, included an additional £7million investment to recruit and train more staff and 1,000 new SEND school places, created between 2018 and 2026.

"We are committed to working in partnership with young people, parents, carers, the NHS and schools to ensure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve amid unprecedented demand for these services," he said.