Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average time taken was to get an Education, Health and Care Plan in place for a child in each of the last five years; and what steps she is taking to reduce this time.

Information for each of the last 5 years 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 statistical release, ‘Education, health and care plans’ (reporting year 2024), which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

Local authorities identified as having issues with 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 special educational needs and disabiltiies advisor support to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process 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.