Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on funding SEND provision of the mainstream school spending per pupil on page 122 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic Financial Outlook.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has set out its position on page 105 of the budget document, confirming that special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) pressure will be absorbed within the overall government Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) budget from the financial year 2028/29 onwards such that we would not expect local authorities to need to fund future special educational needs costs from general funds.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have illustrated the impact in the funding required for this, estimated at £6 billion, if these costs were met by diverting mainstream schools funding. However, that is only an indicative example and does not reflect government policy. We have confirmed that SEND pressure will be absorbed within the overall government DEL budget from 2028/29 onwards, not that it will be absorbed within the core schools budget.
Furthermore, the £6 billion figure quoted by the OBR is based on current spending trajectories and does not take account of future government decisions on reforms to the SEND system, details of which will be set out in the Schools White Paper in the new year.
Budgets from 2028/29 onwards, including the core schools budget, will be confirmed at the 2027 Spending Review.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of funding the cost of SEND provision from RDEL allocations on local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has set out its position on page 105 of the budget document, confirming that special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) pressure will be absorbed within the overall government Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) budget from the financial year 2028/29 onwards such that we would not expect local authorities to need to fund future special educational needs costs from general funds.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have illustrated the impact in the funding required for this, estimated at £6 billion, if these costs were met by diverting mainstream schools funding. However, that is only an indicative example and does not reflect government policy. We have confirmed that SEND pressure will be absorbed within the overall government DEL budget from 2028/29 onwards, not that it will be absorbed within the core schools budget.
Furthermore, the £6 billion figure quoted by the OBR is based on current spending trajectories and does not take account of future government decisions on reforms to the SEND system, details of which will be set out in the Schools White Paper in the new year.
Budgets from 2028/29 onwards, including the core schools budget, will be confirmed at the 2027 Spending Review.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the total cost to the public purse of the decision to extend the statutory override for the cost of SEND to 2027-28.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory override is an accounting measure, designed to keep Dedicated Schools Grant deficits separate from local authorities’ wider financial position. The extension of the override to the end of the 2027/28 financial year does not affect local authorities’ statutory duties to provide support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), nor does it change how much they spend to fulfil those duties. As these duties remain unchanged and, as with the previous government’s decision to extend the statutory override to the end of 2025/26, the extension itself does not result in any additional cost to the public purse.
The government recognises many local authorities are likely to continue to accrue deficits due to their spending on high needs, as we have seen in recent years, as they ensure that there are sufficient resources to secure provision for children and young people with SEND in mainstream or in specialist education. We will set out our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits through the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a financial protection scheme for users of home learning providers which become insolvent.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Where an online home learning provider closes, parents and local authorities should work together to identify other suitable provision which is safe and meets the needs of the child. Home learning providers are often private providers and so are responsible for the financial management of their business.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the consistency of pupil experience between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2; and what steps she is taking to address declines in pupil motivation or engagement during the transition between these stages.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that moving between key stages can be challenging for some children, including the transition from key stage 1 to key stage 2.
One of the ways the department is looking to understand the experiences of children is through our Educational Outcome Pathways Studies (EOPS). EOPS Primary follows children in primary school from years 1 through 6 and collects data on their experiences, progress at school and wellbeing. It also examines factors at home, at school and in the wider environment that may influence children’s attitudes, behaviours and outcomes. Children in the study are currently in year 3, which is the key stage 2 transition year.
Alongside this, the government has committed to publish a new pupil engagement framework, helping schools to identify and address aspects of the pupil experience in their setting which may be preventing children from attending, achieving and thriving. As it is developed, we will consider the evidence around effective practice that supports pupil transitions alongside other approaches that can support pupil engagement.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on supporting schools with falling pupil numbers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities hold the statutory place planning function, ensuring there are sufficient schools in their area to meet the needs of pupils. It is for local authorities, in collaboration with academy trusts and other local partners, to balance the supply and demand of school places.
The department recognises the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs.
Where falling pupil numbers results in spare space becoming available, primary schools have been able to apply for capital funding to create or expand school-based nurseries. We have just announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, on top of the £740 million this year, to create special educational needs units and resourced provision, including where there is spare space, and to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of the school environment.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that specialist speech and language therapies are available to children with education, health and care plans in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes extending the Early Language Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.
In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is now in its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist, helping to grow the pipeline.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October to Question 78154, how much of the £500 million allocated to local authorities for Family Help services is being allocated to help adoptive and kinship families with post placement support.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Family Help reforms are being delivered nationally through the Families First Partnership programme, offering services to all families, including adoptive and kinship families.
On 20 November, we announced additional investment of £547 million, bringing total programme funding to £2.4 billion over this Spending Review period. This funding demonstrates the government’s commitment to invest in prevention, supporting local authorities and partners to deliver reformed help and protection services that make a real difference to families.
It is for local authorities to determine how best to make use of these resources to support adoptive and kinship families with the help they need.
The department will soon pilot a new Kinship Allowance in some local authorities in England, which will support around 4,500 children. This will test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of the number of reports of child (a) sexual (b) criminal exploitation safeguarding failings at (1) private (2) local authority children’s homes in England since 2015.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All registered children’s homes, whether privately run or local authority-operated, must notify Ofsted, the regulator for children’s social care, about certain serious incidents that happen to children in their care living with them and what they have done in response. The published data, available from April 2023, includes a category of ‘sexual exploitation’, which shows:
This data does not distinguish between private or local authority run homes and does not specify data on criminal exploitation.
Ofsted review the notifications received to ensure homes have acted to protect the child from immediate harm, and the information contained in the notifications informs their risk assessment and inspection scheduling.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of locally delivered mentoring schemes in improving youth employment outcomes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working to strengthen how young people at risk of becoming NEET are identified and supported. Local authorities, Strategic Authorities, schools and further education providers will be enabled to share and use data more effectively, supported by new ‘Risk of NEET’ indicator tools and guidance. We have published guidance to support local authorities to identify at-risk young people, support participation and post-16 transition, and prevent NEET.
Alongside this, the Youth Guarantee ensures all 18- to 21-year-olds have support to access training, an apprenticeship or work, backed by careers advice, work experience and a targeted job backstop.
Our statutory careers guidance sets clear expectations for schools and colleges to provide inclusive, high quality careers programmes to encourage schools to make links with providers and employers offering mentoring opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged young people and those at risk of becoming NEET.