Asked by: Paul Foster (Labour - South Ribble)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department monitors the compliance of individual local authorities with statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to the delivery of EHCP provision.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities identified as having issues with education, health and care (EHC) plan timeliness are subject to additional monitoring by the department, who work with the specific local authority. Where there are concerns about the local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, the department can secure specialist advisor support to help identify the barriers to EHC plan timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.
When inspections indicate that there are significant concerns with local authority performance, the department will intervene directly. This may mean issuing an improvement notice, statutory direction and/or appointing a commissioner, deployment of which is considered on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Paul Foster (Labour - South Ribble)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Education, Health and Care (a) requests and (b) needs assessments have been (i) completed and (ii) issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe by Lancashire County Council in the last 12 months.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of assessments carried out and the number of new plans issued within the statutory 20-week time, including at a local authority level, are published in the statistical release, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.