Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

I applaud the Government’s attempt to increase mainstream inclusion for children with SEND, and welcome the £1.8 billion set aside to ensure that children have access to experts, but as far as I can see, there is absolutely no mention in the White Paper of any new funding for increasing the number of teaching assistants, who will be vital in delivering this expansion of mainstream provision. Can the Secretary of State explain how the Government will achieve their aim of making mainstream schools more inclusive for students with SEND without a serious uplift in the number of assistants supporting classroom teachers?

[Bridget Phillipson]

We are already investing much more in our schools. Today, we are setting out additional, new investment, including £1.6 billion that will allow schools to consider how best they can meet need, and they will of course consider how best to deploy teaching assistant support, one-to-one interventions, small group interventions and teaching support. Through the consultation, we are considering how we can better support special educational needs co-ordinators in our system, to drive expertise and change across a setting, because some of our best and most talented SEND staff spend too much time sat in offices, when they should be working directly with teaching assistants and others to make improvements for all children in their school.