Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has won a national award for its digital approach to creating education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children and young people.
It was chosen as winner of the Municipal Journal’s Digital Transformation Award, which commends those using digital technology which positively changes local authority services.
The council worked with tech company Invision360 to develop a new way to measure and analyse the quality of new EHCPs.
They produced a digital tool that enables Stockton’s children’s service staff to measure the quality of the plans. This has led to a system-wide process to improve the consistency of the plans and ensuring the provision of high quality information to those who deliver support to children and young people.
Improving the process
Councillor Lisa Evans, Stockton-on-Tees’ cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We've worked alongside Stockton-on-Tees' Parent Carer Forum and Invision 360 to improve the process and ensure quality is measured - and what we have achieved is game changing. By embracing this new technology we can easily review information across the board which means we can spot where further improvements are needed.
"Of course, we are not complacent and understand the challenges we face - the quality and consistency of EHCPs is a national issue but as part of our improvement journey we are working hard to address these issues.
"I am honoured to hold this position and am incredibly proud of the hard work and commitment of the teams involved. This highly coveted award is recognition of that dedication and what we have achieved."
