Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to assessments for Special Educational Needs in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.

Through a graduated approach, teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of all pupils and putting support in place where needed. Where a child who has SEND needs more support than their school can usually provide, schools, parents or carers can ask the local authority to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.

The department recognises the critical role of educational psychologists within the SEND system, including their statutory contribution to EHC assessments. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, building on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in 2023. Trainees will join the workforce to support the capacity of local authority educational psychology services, including in delivering assessments.

The department provides support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership by monitoring progress against its priority action plan and improvement plan and by providing advice and guidance via a SEND expert advisor. The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.

The department expects all local authorities to meet their statutory duties and we will continue to monitor and challenge Hertfordshire County Council’s EHC plan 20 week timeliness.