Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the reliability of the information provided to her Department by local authorities on implementation of special educational needs reform for children with hearing impairment.

This information is not provided to the Department for Education by local authorities.

Local authorities and their partners across education, health and social care are implementing the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms which came into force on 1 September this year. The Department is working closely with local authorities and local Parent carer forums to understand how local implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 is progressing. Summary findings of the autumn implementation survey will be published before the end of the year. We will also publish local authority data on an annual basis, starting summer 2015.