Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to include organisations supporting people with SEND in the Steering Group to oversee the joint approach to SEND workforce planning.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, set out that the Department for Education will work with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning, informed by a stronger evidence base. We will establish a steering group in 2023 to oversee this work, which will feed into the National SEND and AP Implementation Board. We are currently considering the membership of the steering group, and further details will be provided in due course.