To ask the Minister of Health to detail any work carried out in collaboration with the Minister of Education (i) to benchmark how many allied health professionals (AHP) of each discipline are required to support the current needs of special educational needs learners in the education system; and (ii) to develop a joint workforce strategy to provide the appropriate number of AHPs required.

Partnership working between Health and Education is essential to the delivery of a population health approach to support children and young people with SEN and a more seamless provision of multi-disciplinary, multi-service and multi-sectoral support. The close working relationship between my Department, the Department of Education (DE), the Education Authority (EA) and the Public Health Agency (PHA) is increasingly crucial as both sectors respond to the increasing demands within the Special Schools, helping to inform planning and service response.

In addition to this work is underway to further understand the AHP therapeutic needs of the children and young people currently enrolled in Special Schools. This information will inform the commissioning of services for current and future need.