General Secretary Blog: are local authority EP services facing an existential crisis?

Public services are in the spotlight - as key workers take to the picket lines and strike to ensure not only fair pay, but also the long-term sustainability of the services for which they work.

Against this backdrop, I cannot help but reflect on the circumstances of EPs working in local authorities. Not all workplaces are the same, but I know (not only from my recent first-hand experience - but through talking with so many of you across the country) that many are under huge pressures; to deliver statutory reports on time, to reduce enormous backlogs and to provide essential early interventive and preventive support to children, young people and families wherever possible.

Although an EP does not offer the ‘lifesaving’ services of keyworkers like firefighters, nurses and paramedics, we do change lives – sometimes in small ways, but often by making a huge difference to how a child or young person feels about their learning or about school (perhaps helping them access meaningful education for the first time), how a member of staff feels about coming into work every day and even how a parent feels about getting out of bed in the morning. It is impossible to ignore the difference EPs make in terms of long-term impact. And yet, EP Services are facing the same existential crisis on a small scale as is occurring across other vital public services. Local authorities are facing the same budgetary pressures, with less money available as costs continue to increase. This, we are told, is what makes a fair pay offer ‘unaffordable’.

I am minded of two recent stories in the media. The Financial Times published an opinion piece from economist Martin Wolf about ‘affordability’ of public sector pay. His view is that pay levels must match the required rises to ensure the best functioning of the services themselves. The alternative is less affordable: an exodus of the staff needed to deliver those services and an ultimate weakening or even collapse - as the staff left behind experience greater pressures until they too are driven to leave.
ITV's Robert Peston posted further reflections on Twitter on public sector strikes and the government’s proposed bill for strike legislation. He observed that the request for fair pay was largely fuelled by public sector workers feeling undervalued for the crucial work they do and the sacrifices they make - and that the government’s response has done nothing to ameliorate this communication of ‘undervalue’ and being ‘taken for granted’.

I know that many EPs share the feelings of ‘undervalued’ and ‘overworked’. This can lead us to feel that the work we are often 'churning out' is less meaningful than we’d like it to be. We can feel as if we are working predominantly in reactive and bureaucratic ways, rather than in the ways that we know are most effective. Statutory reports are vitally important and contribute to better lives for children and young people with SEND. However, the level of demand for these reports (within England and Northern Ireland especially) have become untenable, with EP time for early support and intervention being sacrificed.

Many EPs are voting with their feet; choosing alternatives to working within local authorities. I have worked for a local authority for almost all of my adult working life. I hugely value the support local authorities provide to their communities and despair at the erosion of their capacity to provide the care, specialist advice, support and services communities need. I believe that there should be strong, equal and universal local authority support available; to deliver social care, collect our bins and make sure children access the best education possible. Other sources of support, for example charitable organisations and social enterprises, should exist only to support and add to this bedrock.

It is thus that I fear local authority EP services are facing an existential crisis - as EPs continue to be offered below inflation pay increases (a tally of 20% reduction in real terms since 2010), continue to experience often unbearable workloads and continue to have their role narrowed. It is time that we make our voice heard.

Yes, we would like a fair pay offer. But more importantly, we need to make a stand to ensure that there are good quality EP services in local authorities in the future. That all future communities are able to benefit from the amazing differences that EPs can make. In part this is about our work-life balance, our job satisfaction, our morale and – yes- paying our bills. But at its core, it is about our communities – the children, young people and families that we serve, and those working with them, that we support.

Demand better. Change the world.