AQW 8389/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 07/03/2024
Answered On Date: 26/03/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education why health professionals are currently not included in the establishment of local integrated teams as part of the End to End Review of Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Answer:

The first phase of the Education Authority’s (EA) Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) Transformation Programme seeks to introduce a new delivery model for its Pupil Support Services (PSS) by September 2024, moving from a range of separate services to Local Integrated Teams (LITs) and removing the gatekeeping role of educational psychologists, with the aim of improving access to support services for children with SEN.

The potential for integrating Allied Health Professional (AHP) support will be considered at a later phase of the EA’s SEN Transformation Programme, in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH) and its delivery bodies.

The wider End to End (E2E) Review of SEN is looking more broadly at improving collaboration between Health and Education to support children with SEN.