Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that education, health and care plans for SEND children are issued by local authorities within five weeks.

The department wants to ensure that education, health and care (EHC) assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, high quality plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.

The overall time it takes from a local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment and the final plan being issued, if one is required, must not take longer than 20 weeks unless specific exceptions apply.

The department continues to monitor, challenge and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we ensure that the cause of these problems is identified with the local authority and that an effective recovery plan is implemented. Where needed, the department deploys specialist special educational needs and disabilities advisors to help identify the barriers to carrying out the EHC plan process in a timely way and to address these through practical plans for recovery, alongside addressing other areas of weakness in provision.