Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with representatives of the Council for Disabled Children on the potential impact of SEND reforms on (a) special needs children and (b) EHCP allocation.

The department regularly works with a range of stakeholders, including the Council for Disabled Children (CDC), on a number of areas relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy. We regularly meet the CDC to discuss the development of SEND reforms and their impact on children and young people with SEND and their families. We have appointed Dame Christine Lenehan, former director of the CDC, as SEND adviser to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.