nd the quality of EHCPs… Our EHCP timeliness is really poor but the number of requests for assessment coming in continues to rise... We need to move away from a position where the local authority is the deliverer of SEND... My [delivery] responsibility is actually very small within the SEND world. We need to invest in schools to make sure that they can deliver what we need them to do. (DCS, County, South West Region) 31 Accounting arrangements put in place in 2020 by the government at that time (known as the statutory override) allows local authorities to keep Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits off their balance sheets. This arrangement is set to end in March 2026, with some local authorities warning that without clarity on longer term arrangements, they may have to issue section 114 notices much earlier than 2026 as carrying these deficits on their balance sheet will result in insolvency. In 2022, the DfE published the outcome of a SEND review and a Green Paper articulating the challenges in the system and the need for change (DfE, 2023a). This was followed in 2023, by a SEND improvement plan (DfE, 2023a), which survey respondents and DCS interviewees felt did not go far enough and was not being pursued with sufficient urgency. The [SEND Improvement] plan fails to address how to manage supply and demand so I can’t see any way out of stopping escalating costs. It leaves the buck at the door of the local authority and fails to hold schools and other partners, as well as trusts and regional commissioners, accountable. (DCS, County, Eastern Region) Responding to SEND pressures: • One local authority was running a pilot in 10 primary schools to provide very early multidisciplinary conversations involving clinicians. Results indicate a two-thirds reduction in ECHP assess