Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Review

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 29th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend the assurance that we will reach out to them.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Parents are battling and children are struggling every day in York, in that tug of war between the services, the available funding and the available practitioners. I was disappointed that the proposals do not contain a workforce plan covering the comprehensive range of services needed, including speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological services and CAMHS. In the consultation, can the Secretary of State put a focus on workforce planning and ensure that at the end of that consultation, a workforce plan is published alongside the Government response?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s characteristically thoughtful question. We made a commitment in the Green Paper, and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has also made this commitment, to ensure the workforce provision is adequate. The best way to ensure that is through the transparency of a local data dashboard so people can see their child has consistency of support.