Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsteen Sullivan Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that. We are working closely with local authorities on plans for special and alternative provision free schools. We are keen to progress that, and I will ensure that Ministers update her on the case she raises. We are determined to fix the SEND system that fails parents and fails children, and that is why we have launched a national conversation to put families at the heart of lasting reform. We have already put money into extra new places, with language support and Best Start family hubs being rolled out across every area from April.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q10. In Blackburn in West Lothian, St Kentigern’s academy was part demolished due to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and it is being rebuilt at a cost of £35 million. West Lothian council found £20 million from its own stretched budget, but despite repeated pleas to the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, who called it a most deserving case, funding has not been delivered. Will the Prime Minister back my call for the Scottish Government to urgently fund the £15 million shortfall, and raise it with the First Minister in their next meeting?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who has fought for her constituents on this issue for years. Meanwhile, decades of SNP cuts and broken promises have left schools crumbling. What a contrast: by the end of this Parliament, every school in England will be either RAAC free or rebuilt entirely. We delivered the largest settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution, so the question for SNP is: after decades of decline, what is their excuse?