Data on children awaiting specialist SEND placements

That this House expresses concern that the Government does not collect data on the number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan awaiting a specialist school placement; notes that, in response to Written Parliamentary Question 26866, the Government confirmed that it does not hold this information; believes that accurate data on the number of children requiring specialist SEND provision is vital to understanding the scale of unmet need and informing effective national policy and long-term planning; welcomes the Government’s commitment to increased funding for SEND provision, but notes that without knowing how many children require specialist support it is impossible to properly assess whether funding levels are appropriate; and calls on the Government to begin systematically collecting and publishing this data.