Disability: Children and Families

(asked on 21st January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children's Partnership Count Disabled Children In polling results, released 17 January 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 18 per cent of the public thought that disabled children and families got the right support from councils and the NHS.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 31st January 2022

The department works closely with the Disabled Children’s Partnership and we are reviewing the findings of their latest report.

The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents/carers as well as those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ well-being and ‘control over day-to-day life’.

The SEND code of practice also makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.

However, the SEND system currently does not deliver for all children and young people with SEND. We further recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately impacted young people with SEND and their families, which is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system. The department uses data to monitor and assess local authority performance and has been supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including by providing challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission continue with their full inspection programme and our team of SEND advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to provide support and challenge to help improve performance.

Depending on the underlying issues that each local authority faces, such as those relating to EHC assessments, we commission specialist and regional support from our delivery partners or facilitate peer to peer support.

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