Calls to the SEND Statutory Team transferring to Councils Customer Service Centre

Devon County Council are making changes across their SEND Statutory Team that they hope will improve the timeliness of the Education Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNAs) and plans.

They have heard from parents and professionals about their experiences of contacting the SEND Statutory Team and reviewed their processes to identify things that they could improve.

The phone lines are currently open for four hours each weekday and it can take a long time for calls to be answered, messages to be given to the right people, or to receive a response.

One of the challenges they have identified is the time the SEND Statutory Team spend answering the dedicated phone lines. This is time that staff could otherwise use to focus on their casework and progress EHCNA’s and plans once they are issued  Education, Health and Needs Assessments and Education Health and Care Plan drafting.

So, from Wednesday 17 April, calls that currently go to the SEND Statutory Team will be re-directed to the Customer Service Centre, who will be able to assist with information and pass messages quickly to the right people in the SEND Statutory Team. This will help the SEND Statutory Team to focus more of their time on the SEND Statutory Assessments and casework

There will be no change to phone line numbers. The service to families and professionals will continue uninterrupted, but with the extra flexibility of extended opening hours which will now be from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

The Customer Service Team will be using a new system that will bring all communication together in one place to help them respond to calls, and that will be integrated with the SEND Statutory teams

The Council will be monitoring how this new approach is working, to make sure it’s having a positive impact.