Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Department has made of the potential merits of continuing the use of Education, Health and Care Plans to support children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities with a guaranteed right to support in the North East.

This government inherited a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system that has failed to meet the needs of families for too long.

The department’s priority is improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND so they get every chance to achieve and thrive in their education, no matter where they are in the country.

We are continuing to engage closely with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children and young people get the outcomes and life chances they deserve. The government's approach to SEND reform will be set out in a Schools White Paper, which will be published in the new year.

There will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with SEND. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has also set out our principles for SEND reform in her letter to the Chair of the Education Select Committee.