Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) backlog in (a) England and (b) South West Norfolk constituency.

Although the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) has responded well to the significant increase in appeals it has experienced in recent years, we acknowledge that more needs to be done to reduce the time parents and young people have to wait to have their appeals determined. An additional 70 judges have been recruited for this chamber and began sitting from September 2024, with further recruitment scheduled.

The pressures facing the Tribunal are indicative of wider pressures in the SEND system. We are working with the Department for Education in the longer term to reduce the demands on the tribunal so that the outstanding caseload, and the time within which the tribunal can determine appeals, reduces in accordance with our key performance indicators.