Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to publish a deaf-specific national standard as part of the planned national SEND and AP implementation strategy.

In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper and the Schools White Paper, which set out plans to ensure every child can reach their full potential.

The Green Paper aims to drive national consistency in how needs are assessed, identified, and met across education, health, and care through the introduction of national standards. The department is considering the different options for developing these standards and we will continue to work with a variety of stakeholders as we develop our options.

The Green Paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022 and the department is currently analysing the responses. The department will publish a national SEND and AP implementation strategy in due course, setting out our response to the consultation and the next steps for developing national standards.