Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to meet the demand for specialist SEND school places.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the vital role that special schools play in catering to children and young people with the most complex needs. We also want more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). If a local authority identifies a shortage of places, which would result in a significant number of pupils needing to travel a long way to access a placement, they should consider creating or expanding provision to meet that need.
The government has now published local authority allocations for £740 million in high needs capital in the 2025/26 financial year to support local authorities to provide school places for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs, alongside continuing to provide places to support pupils in special schools with the most complex needs. Hampshire has been allocated just under £22.9 million for the 2025/26 financial year.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for the provision of SEND services by Hampshire Council.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The Hampshire local area partnership was last inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the previous SEND inspection framework in March 2020. The inspection found that leaders in Hampshire were highly ambitious for children and young people with SEND, and while the inspection did identify areas for improvement, it did not identify any areas of significant weakness. As with all local areas, the department has continued to work with Hampshire since its last inspection through a regional case lead, who seeks regular assurances on the adequacy of SEND provision and provides support and challenge. All local authorities will be assessed under the new CQC Area SEND Inspection Framework by the end of 2027. Following their inspection, the department will work closely with Hampshire as they respond to the findings.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Of that total, Hampshire County Council is being allocated over £224 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £17.7 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.5% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support Hampshire County Council in its provision of SEND support.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The Hampshire local area partnership was last inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the previous SEND inspection framework in March 2020. The inspection found that leaders in Hampshire were highly ambitious for children and young people with SEND, and while the inspection did identify areas for improvement, it did not identify any areas of significant weakness. As with all local areas, the department has continued to work with Hampshire since its last inspection through a regional case lead, who seeks regular assurances on the adequacy of SEND provision and provides support and challenge. All local authorities will be assessed under the new CQC Area SEND Inspection Framework by the end of 2027. Following their inspection, the department will work closely with Hampshire as they respond to the findings.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Of that total, Hampshire County Council is being allocated over £224 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £17.7 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.5% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Early education and childcare (effective from 1 April 2025), published on 21 February 2025, what steps her Department is taking to maintain access to childcare places in rural areas; and what steps she is taking to support childcare providers with operational costs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for early years entitlements, which is an increase of more than 30% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, as we roll out the expansion of the childcare entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.
The government has committed to working with the sector to embed early years within the wider education system, and to find new ways to shift the early education system to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. As part of our plan to utilise unused space in primary schools, we have just announced the opening of 300 new school-based nurseries, which will be available from September.
On top of this, we are providing supplementary funding of £75 million for an early years expansion grant ahead of the 30 hours expansion from September. The department also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. Public sector employers in the early years will also receive £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. As we roll out the expansion to entitlements for working parents, the department is in regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. There are currently no local authorities reporting that they are unable to meet their sufficiency duties for the expanded entitlements. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children in kinship care receive adequate (a) education and (b) mental health support.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to ensuring that children in kinship care get the support that they need to thrive. There are a number of ways in which we support their educational and mental health needs.
From September 2024, the department expanded the role of virtual school heads on a non-statutory basis to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care, ensuring that more children in kinship care receive the help they need to thrive at school. The department is now mandating this through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This will ensure that all children in kinship care, regardless of whether they spent time in local authority care, will ensure they receive consistent support to improve their educational outcomes. This will also give kinship carers better access to and understanding of educational resources and support, which will increase visibility of these children in education and ensure they are not overlooked.
In addition, the department is providing over £2.9 billion of pupil premium funding to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils in England, including looked after and previously looked after children. Schools can direct pupil premium spending where the need is greatest, including to pupils with other identified needs, such as children in kinship care. Schools can also use pupil premium on whole class approaches that will benefit all pupils, such as on high quality teaching.
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education. The government will deliver on this commitment through providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
As of April 2024, NHS-funded mental health support teams covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England, and are expected to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025. The department will also be putting in place new young futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For example, a resources hub for mental health leads, and a toolkit to help schools choose evidence-based early support for pupils.
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund also helps adoptive and special guardianship order children and their families access therapeutic interventions related to trauma and attachment.