Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support local authorities to reduce the waiting times for education, health and care plans to be processed.

For too long the education system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.

The department wants to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.

The department publishes annual data from the SEN2 survey in relation to the processes associated with EHC plans, including the timeliness of assessments and, where agreed, the issuing of an EHC plan. The department also closely monitors the information from the annual SEN2 data release and uses it to inform discussions with local areas.

Local authorities identified as having issues with EHC plan timeliness are subject to additional monitoring by the department, who work with the specific local authority. Where there are concerns about the local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, the department can secure specialist SEND Adviser support to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.

The department knows that local authorities have been impacted by increased demand for EHC plans and workforce capacity to meet this demand, so more efficient and effective service delivery, alongside communication with schools and families, is central to the recovery.

When inspections indicate that there are significant concerns with local authority performance, the department will intervene directly. This may mean issuing an improvement notice, statutory direction and/or appointing a commissioner, the deployment of which is considered on a case-by-case basis. We also provide support and challenge, for example from SEND Improvement Advisers and Sector-Led Improvement Partners to address the challenges local authorities face and improve services for children.