Will the Cabinet Secretary provide a breakdown of the number of students on the individual development plan waiting list by year, since 2014?
Under the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system, ALN is identified by either a school, pupil referral unit, further education institution or a local authority. Where it is decided a child or young person has ALN, they will generally be entitled to an individual development plan (IDP). Over 21,000 learners now have IDPs. Timescales are set out in the ALN Code for Wales. The Welsh Government does not maintain a list of children and young people awaiting completion of IDPs.
This financial year we increased the Local Government Settlement by £262 million (an average increase of 4.5%) to safeguard as far as possible core funding to schools. In addition, we have invested £32 million in ALN via the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) which increases resources to support schools and local authorities to meet their statutory duties, which include developing and maintaining IDPs.