Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long service users in (a) Broxtowe, (b) Nottingham and (c) the East Midlands are waiting for (i) Autism assessments and (ii) overall SEND assessments.

Information on autism assessments is not held centrally in the format requested, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB and the Midlands commissioning region.

In the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, the Autism Waiting Time Statistics published by NHS England show that there were a total of 6,120 patients of all-ages with an open suspected autism referral in December 2024, the latest available data. The median waiting time of all patients in this ICB with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 244 days in December 2024.

In the Midlands commissioning region, the Autism Waiting Time Statistics show that there were a total of 58,445 patients of all-ages with an open suspected autism referral in December 2024. The median waiting time of all patients in the Midlands commissioning region with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 352 days in December 2024.

Caution should be used when interpreting these statistics since they are experimental rather than official statistics.

Schools decide whether a pupil has additional needs that warrant them being on the school's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities register. Some relevant information on waiting times for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities is available from the GOV.UK website, from Education, health and care plans: England 2024, with the latest data available being from 2023. In Nottingham,

TARGET DATE 05/03/2025

67.1% of EHCPs, including exceptions, were issued within 20 weeks and in the East Midlands 40.4% of EHCPs, including exceptions, were issued within 20 weeks.