Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether statutory duties relating to Education, Health and Care plans will be restored in full before all children are permitted to return to school in September 2020.

Since May, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been necessary to modify the duty on local authorities and health commissioners so that they could use their ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure or arrange the specified special educational and health care provision in education health and care (EHC) plans. It is our plan that all children and young people, in all year groups and setting types, will return to education settings full time from the beginning of the autumn term. We are committed to removing these flexibilities as soon as possible so children and young people can receive the support they need to return to school. As such, unless the evidence changes, we will not be issuing further national notices to modify the EHC duties. We will, however, consider whether any such flexibilities may be required locally to respond to outbreaks.

We will also continue to monitor the need for the temporary changes to the law on EHC needs assessments and plans that give local authorities and others who contribute to the relevant processes more flexibility in responding to the demands placed on them by COVID-19. These changes are currently in force until 25 September.

We remain committed to listening to and working with local authorities, parent carer representatives and specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) organisations, to ensure that the lifting of the temporary changes is managed in a way that supports the needs of children and young people with SEND.