Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for children with special educational needs and disabilities to receive an Education, Health and Care plan in (a) England, (b) the East of England and (c) Suffolk in each year since 2020.

Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is published as part of the department’s EHC plans statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

The following table shows the number and proportion of plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline for England, the East of England and Suffolk for each calendar year since 2020: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/176f8770-7fe7-49b2-9bba-08dd7377d1ad.