Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendations in the Education Report 2023, published by the National Autistic Society on 30 May 2023.

The department is aware of the recommendations outlined in the National Autistic Society’s (NAS) Education Report. The department regularly engages with the NAS, for instance testing the reforms set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan.

​​The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their SEND, to receive the right support to succeed in their education, and as they move into adult life. The department wants them to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, to find employment, lead happy and fulfilled lives, and to experience choice and control.

​​In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, the department set out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.​