Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in Ipswich constituency are waiting for special school places.

The department does not collect data on how many children are waiting for school places on a constituency basis. However, each January, the department collects data from local authorities, covering the number of children and young people and the type of provision attended. This includes mainstream schools, special schools, alternative provision, pupils educated elsewhere, and those awaiting provision.

The most recent return shows that in January 2022, there were 1,503 children of compulsory school age across England with education, health and care (EHC) plans who were not in education and awaiting provision. This is up from 1,460 in January 2021. In Suffolk, in January 2022, there were 36 children of compulsory school age with EHC plans not in education and awaiting provision, up from 26 in January 2021.

The department does not collect data about the specific circumstances of the children awaiting provision. The department knows that this category includes children and young people in a wide range of circumstances, including some who are in an education setting, but awaiting provision in another setting (including those currently attending a mainstream school who are to move to a special school), and some who have only recently moved into the area. The local authority keeps its special school place provision under continual review and has detailed plans for increasing the number of good places available in Ipswich and across Suffolk.

To support these plans, the department collaborates with Suffolk local authority on helping all schools in the county to continually improve their whole-school special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) approach, including ensuring that academies fulfil their obligations to pupils with SEND. While statutory responsibility for providing SEND places rests with Suffolk local authority, the department actively supports the local authority to secure sufficient, good quality SEND places in Suffolk, including in Ipswich.