Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of youth autism advocacy programmes in local authorities in England.

As part of our Plan for Change, the department is determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust in it. To help us deliver this, we are having a further period of co-creation with families, teachers, children and young people and experts from across the sector to test our proposals further. We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper soon.

Through our Participation programme, we fund support and training to local authorities to strengthen and grow children and young people’s participation at a local level.

The department continues to strengthen co-production with children and young people via monthly meetings with our national SEND young people’s group and regional SEND young people’s groups across England, who share their views and experiences with us.

Local authorities should use existing organisations and young people forums to enable engagement with children, young people and their parents. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information and Support Services offer information, advice and support for parents, carers children and young people with SEND.