Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 220889, what mechanism is in place to alert Ministers when local authorities do not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory 26 week time limit.

There is no mechanism in place to alert Ministers routinely to individual cases when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs for a child within the statutory 26 week timescale.

A complaint can be made to the Secretary of State for Education under section 497 of the Education Act 1996 if it is believed that a local authority has failed to carry out a statutory duty. If, following investigation, the Secretary of State is satisfied that the local authority has failed to carry out their duty, she may make an order giving directions to enforce the duty as appear to her to be expedient.

Data collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs within the statutory timescale of 26 weeks and published each year gives a national picture of local authority performance in this area.