Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for a child to be assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan after receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in (a) the London Borough of Lewisham, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Under the Children and Families Act (2014), parents and schools can apply for an assessment for an education, health and care (EHC) plan without the need for a diagnosis to have already been made.

Data is collected by the department on assessments for EHC plans that are completed within their 20-week target. This is published in the ‘Statements of special educational needs and EHC plans: England, 2018’ publication available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018.