EHCP Case Officer

SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL; Shrewsbury; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Shrewsbury is seeking a dedicated professional to manage a caseload of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). The role involves maintaining positive relationships with families and partners, ensuring compliance with Education and Care legislation, and overseeing statutory processes. Ideal candidates will have relevant qualifications and skills in communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. This permanent position offers a full-time schedule with opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

Generous annual leave allowance

Eligibility for Local Government Pension Scheme

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Must have a thorough understanding of Education, Health and Care Plan legislation.
• Experience with children's services and special educational needs (SEN) is essential.
• Ability to manage a caseload effectively and efficiently.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of children and young people with SEN aged 0 to 25.
• Coordinate statutory documentation and processes related to EHCPs.
• Lead and contribute to multi-agency meetings and projects.

Skills

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Customer-focused approach

Teamwork

Advocacy

Education

Relevant qualifications in Education or Social Care

Job description

The post holder will maintain a caseload, set up and maintain positive and professional working relationships and work in partnership with families, education settings, health and social care, whilst ensuring compliance with relevant legislation. You will be responsible for administering statutory processes linked to the Education, Health and Care Plan legislation, including writing and amending EHCPs in accordance with The Children and Families Act 2014 and SEN Code of Practice January 2015 and locally agreed quality standards. You will provide comprehensive casework management and administrative support to ensure the effectiveness of the EHCP Team in accordance with the requirements of the Children’s & Families Act 2014 and theారణ SEN Code of Practice 2015. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be:

Responsibilities

• Reporting to a Senior EHCP Case Officer who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, training and development.
• Responsible for managing your own caseload and contributing to the development of the EHCP team in line with legislation and best practice.
• Expected to lead and/or contribute to a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order to achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved.
• Responsible for assisting in the preparation of responses in line with Shropshire Council's corporate processes and national/regulatory/statutory processes (e.g. complaints, MP enquiries, Information Governance requests, customer enquiries, media enquiries). These responses should be in line with the quality and timescale expectations set out within Shropshire Council's published procedures and/or case allocation emails and discussions.
• Responsible for completing within expected timescales all mandatory corporate and role‑specific training. Training requirements will be detailed in your corporate induction and Personal Development Plan (PDP). Courses are accessed via the council Learning Management System via the Intranet.
• Undertake EHC casework functions for a caseload of children and young people with SEN aged 0 to 25 who are under an EHC needs assessment or review of an EHCP.
• Being a single point of regular and consistent contact for the child or young person and their parents/carers during the education, health and care needs assessment process.
• Facilitate and attend га‑agency meetings.
• Request and co‑ordinate all statutory documentation, data and finance around the child and young person in relation to their EHCP and the statutory processes.
• Support all aspects of an EHC Needs Assessment; Annual Reviews, Phase Transfers and day‑to‑day problem‑solving.
• Check the quality of information received through the EHC Needs assessment and annual review processes, ensuring that the child/young person's views and parent/carer views are clearly presented.
• Provide clear and effective communication regarding the statutory processes, signposting to the Local Offer as appropriate.
• Promote a multi‑agency partnership approach.
• Enable and empower the child and young person and their families to make decisions and where appropriate to make effective use of a personal budget.
• Write and amend Education, Health & Care Plans ensuring they conform to legal requirements and are clear and comprehensive in line with statutory timescales and locally agreed quality standards.
• Participate in the Local Authority's processes for monitoring and quality assurance policies and procedures.
• Support the EHCP Team Manager სიმ] and Senior EHCP Case Officers in achieving the performance targets for completion of EHCPs within the statutory 20‑week timescale and completing the annual review process within statutory timescales.
• Champion the use of technology (such as the Synergy case management system) to record, track and monitor our ways of working, to both manage performance and inform business intelligence.
• Keep accurate data and case records and bring concerns to the attention of the Senior EHCP Case Officer rõ.
• Ensure financial information is recorded clearly so that it can be monitored effectively.
• Prepare EHCNA request paperwork for the weekly statutory Assessment Panel (SAP).
• Ensure that draft EHCPs and amended EHCPs are presented to the appropriate decision‑making panels元棋牌 agree the allocation of resources in accordance with guidelines including a personal budget, where appropriate.
• Through the consultation process, identify and secure appropriate school placement for children and young people with an EHC Plan, with a focus on accountability for outcomes.
• Attend annual review meetings, as appropriate, act as the Local Authority representative, and provide support to parents/carers, education settings and partner agencies on all aspects of the annual review process; completing the annual review process in accordance with legislation and timeframes, alerting the Senior EHCP Case Officer when schools/ settings are not complying with their statutory duties in relation to the completion of annual reviews.
• Chair annual review meetings and co‑ordinate the annual review process for Children and young people with EHCPs who are electively home‑educated (EHE).
• Monitor progress of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan working with the Senior EHCP Case Officer to identify any concerns.
• In liaison with EHCP Team Manager and/or Senior EHCP Case Officer, ensure the preparation of high‑quality complaint responses, draft responses to MP enquiries, produce chronologies and case summaries for SEND Mediation and Tribunals, contribute to the LA case statement, and ensure that any directions/follow‑up actions are completed within the time frames set.
• The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will be expected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectively to the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce.

What we expect of you

• Adopt a customer‑focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile.
• Act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire.
• Meet individual, service and personal trabalonge targets agreed through the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council.
• Work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives.
• Meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work.

Conditions of Service

The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services.

Your primary work base will be at Guildhall with the requirement to regularly work from home.

• The post is permanent and for 37 hours per week.
• Normal office hours are 7 am – 7 pm Monday – Friday and 8 am – 1 pm Saturday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes.
• Occasional evening work may be required.
• The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as implemented within the specific work area.
• This antaa carries eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Information about this will be sent with any formal offer of appointment.
• Annual leave entitlement is a pro‑rata flat‑rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annual leave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years local‑government service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of an employee's allowance (pro‑rata for part‑time staff) must be taken at Christmas for any potential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is required to open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro‑rata) can be carried over into your next leave year but must be used by the end of March.
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• The appointment is subject to two months' notice in writing on either side.
• The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during which time the notice period will be one week on either side.
• Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place of work.

Pre‑Employment Checks

Pre‑employment checks will include: 1) Satisfactory employment references, 2) Medical report, 3) Evidence of the qualifications required for the post/listed on your application form.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such all applicants who are appointed to this post will be subject to an Enhanced Kickstarter from codicil Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed.