Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of requests for an Education, Health and Care Plan were completed by local authorities in England and Wales in 2019 within the 20 weeks guideline.

In 2018, 60% of new education, health and care plans were issued within 20 weeks.

The latest data available corresponds to the 2018 calendar year and covers England only. This is available in the National Statistics release ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2019.

As part of the cross government special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) review, we are reviewing the system to make sure it is delivering the best start in life for all children and young people with SEND.