Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on children and young people with selective mutism, broken down by (a) age, (b) local authority, (c) education, health and care plan status, (d) primary and secondary type of special educational need, (e) school attendance and (f) suspension or permanent exclusion; and whether she will introduce selective mutism as a distinct reporting category within the school census and education, health and care plan data collections.

The department does not hold information on the number of children and young people with selective mutism and is therefore unable to provide the breakdowns requested.

Effective early identification and intervention is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), including those with selective mutism condition.

The special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice makes it clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEN does not require a diagnostic label. Instead, practitioners should identify and address pupils' needs at the earliest opportunity through a graduated approach, in which progress is regularly assessed, and support is provided based on an individual's identified needs, regardless of whether a child has received a formal diagnosis.