Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what their policy is regarding standardising Education, Health and Care Plans to improve standards.

In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which sets out our proposals to ensure that every child and young person has their needs identified quickly and met consistently.

In the green paper, the department proposed to introduce a standardised and digitised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and template to minimise bureaucracy, deliver consistency and improve the experiences for families and professionals.

The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with families, professionals, and other SEND system stakeholders, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. This includes those steps set out on EHC Plans.

The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early this year. We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.