State-funded Schools: Special Educational Needs - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:13 pm on 11 December 2024.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Stedman-Scott Baroness Stedman-Scott Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions), Shadow Minister (Women and Equalities), Opposition Whip (Lords) 3:13, 11 December 2024

My Lords, I am the great-aunt of Ollie, who is my great-nephew. He went to Liberty, a brilliant state school in Merton that I cannot speak highly enough of. It had no trouble identifying that he had a problem; the problem was the length of time waiting for the assessment. In the end, I coughed up and paid for it, and he is now in a state school with a Treetops special unit and he is cooking—he is thriving. This year, I received the first birthday card from him that I could read every word of. How many children are waiting for assessments? What is the reason for the long waits, and what are we going to do about it?