Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data she holds on the number of children in Buckinghamshire who are on waiting lists for education, health and care plan assessments; and what steps she is taking reduce waiting times.

The department publishes official statistics on education, health and care (EHC) plans annually, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes data at local authority level on the rate of EHC plans issued within the deadline of 20 weeks.

The table below contains details of assessments in 2023 in Buckinghamshire, by the duration, in days, between the date of the request for assessment and the date of the assessment outcome. This includes those for whom a plan was issued and those with the decision not to issue a plan, but excludes cases where the assessment was withdrawn.

Number of assessments completed by time between date received and assessment completion date in Buckinghamshire for the 2023 calendar year:

To note:

• Source: SEN2 Data collection
• "Duration not available" includes cases where the date of request is not available or was recorded after the outcome date
• ​In this table, “less than six months” refers to 180 days or less, “six months to a year” refers to between 181 days and 365 days, “1 to 2 years” refers to between 366 days and 730 days, and "more than 2 years" refers to over 730 days.

The person-level data collection on EHC plans is in its second year. As a result, the department expects the quality of data returns to improve over time, as the collection becomes established. In particular, the recording of the dates of the assessment request and the assessment outcome is subject to data quality issues, which become especially prominent when looking at a low level of granularity. For this reason, cases over two years have been aggregated, and where the date of request is missing or was recorded after the outcome date, this is marked in the table as ‘not available’. The department continues to work with local authorities in understanding and improving the data collection.

The department will continue to maintain close oversight of services in Buckinghamshire to ensure every child and young person with special educational needs and disabilities has access to high quality services.