Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Inclusion Bases she is planning for schools in the Witham constituency in each of the next five years; and what funding is being made available to finance them.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As a core component of our £3.7 billion high needs capital settlement, the department will invest in a transformational expansion of inclusion bases.
This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. In the 2026/27 financial year, Essex has been allocated £21.2 million for high needs provision capital allocation.
Provision is currently inconsistent across the country, which is why we are also going to improve data collection on which schools have inclusion bases so we can make sure that all pupils are given the support they need.
For the first time, departmental guidance has been produced to help settings and local authorities set up and deliver high-quality provision in inclusion bases, as well as support improvement of existing bases.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (i) methodology and (ii) timeframes of (a) housing growth and (b) pupil number growth forecasts did she use when deciding to not to proceed with funding for the proposed Lodge Farm Primary School in Witham.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mainstream Free School projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools. As part of the decision-making process, the department carefully assessed all available evidence, with a particular focus on the evidence of need for additional school places within the relevant planning areas, factoring in housing growth. To inform the decision we used the latest School Capacity survey data and took account of the local authority's longer-term projections. For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient need for a new school.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of pupils in Witham that will have an EHCP in each of the next five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold this data.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, When she will complete her review of the representations sent in relation to her Department’s cancellation of funding for Lodge Farm School in Witham.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Representations sent in by trusts and local authorities are currently being considered. Final decisions taken by ministers on individual projects will be communicated by letter as soon as possible.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the additional costs incurred by (a) each school in the Witham constituency and (b) across Essex, as a result of the increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions in (i) 2025/26 and (ii) 2026/27.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
School funding has increased by £3.7 billion in financial year 2025/26, meaning that core school budgets total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This includes almost £1 billion in additional funding being provided to support schools and high needs settings, with the increases to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from April 2025.
Our funding system is not designed so that every school and college receives funding that fully matches their precise spending, as this, including the NICs costs, varies from institution to institution because of the decisions each takes on its staffing.
Through the dedicated schools grant, Essex, which allocates funding for Witham, is receiving £1.3 billion for mainstream schools in 2025/26. Essex will receive £6,128 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 on Free Schools: Witham, UIN 101355, if she will publish a breakdown of the (a) details and (b) scoring of each school project evaluated; and if she will publish the evidence considered as part of her review into Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is progressing projects that will meet the needs of communities and provide a unique offer for students who would otherwise not have access, without damaging the viability of existing local schools and colleges.
We have written to trusts, local authorities and MPs setting out the position on individual projects as well as offering more detailed feedback.
All projects were evaluated in line with consistent criteria set out in a Written Ministerial Statement in October 2024, including published school capacity data (SCAP24), in line with the department’s longstanding approach to assessing pipeline projects, as well as other data from local authorities, such as plans for future housing developments.
Final decisions on projects where a ‘minded to cancel’ letter was issued will be made once trusts and local authorities have had the opportunity to submit any new evidence. Representations should be made by 30 January 2026.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what evidential basis she has indicated that she is minded to cancel the Department's support for the development of the proposed Lodge Farm Primary School, Witham; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the cancellation on (a) early years provision, (b) primary school places and (c) special educational provision places.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mainstream projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
We will invest at least £3 billion over the next four years to create around 50,000 places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across England. To support this investment, we are not proceeding with some mainstream free school projects.
For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient medium‑term need for a new school in the proposed Witham and Hatfield Peverel location. The trust and local authority can submit any further evidence for ministers to consider by 30 January 2026. The local authority has been offered just over £600,000 additional funding to provide the 12 special educational needs unit places that were planned for this school.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on School Funding: Provisional 2025-26 allocations, HCWS 264, what funding has been provided to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special and alternative provision in (i) Witham constituency, (ii) Essex and (iii) nationally to cover the costs of additional pupils entering the state sector from independent provision as a result of the introduction of VAT and business rate changes to independent schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government announced at Budget a £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding increase includes funding for mainstream schools and high needs funding for complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Funding for mainstream schools will be distributed to schools following the existing funding formula, which includes consideration of pupil numbers and other characteristics. The funding allocations to local authorities for 2025/26 are calculated using the latest pupil numbers from the October 2024 census.
Local authorities are responsible for securing enough school places for children in their area. We provide capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.
Departmental Pupil Place Planning Advisors engage with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible. Where local authorities are failing in their duty, the government will intervene.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on School Funding: Provisional 2025-26 allocations, HCWS 264, whether the allocations include provision for schools to cover the additional costs of the employer National Insurance contributions increases from April 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
At Budget, HM Treasury confirmed that all public sector organisations will be funded for the increase in employer contributions to national insurance in the 2025/26 financial year. This included additional funding for schools.
The allocations for the national funding formula for the 2025/26 financial year do not include the additional funding for the increase in employer contributions to national insurance from April 2025.
The department anticipates providing this funding to schools through a separate grant in the 2025/26 financial year. It will provide more information on this, including funding rates and allocations, as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on School Funding: Provisional 2025-26 allocations, HCWS 264, what funding she has provided to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special and alternative provision in (i) Witham constituency and (ii) Essex.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to the 2024/25 financial year. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year.
Through the schools national funding formula (NFF), Essex will receive £5,379 per primary pupil and £6,984 per secondary pupil in mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. These per pupil figures will be used to calculate final allocations for 2025/26 through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in December, based on updated pupil numbers.
The provisional funding allocation for primary and secondary schools in Essex based on the 2024/25 DSG pupil numbers is £642.0 million and £587.2 million respectively. These figures do not include premises funding or growth funding.
The department does not provide school funding figures at constituency level. The individual allocations that schools within Witham constituency will actually receive are determined each year by the local funding formula set by Essex County Council.
Almost £1 billion of the £2.3 billion increase announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 has been allocated to high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities and those in alternative provision (AP) to £11.9 billion.
Of that total, Essex County Council is being allocated a provisional high needs funding amount of over £259 million through the high needs NFF. This represents an 8.9% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation. It is for local authorities to decide how to distribute the funding to special and AP schools in their local area.
Essex County Council will also be allocated extra funding for pay and pensions costs in special schools and AP. This funding is additional to the allocations through the high needs NFF, and the department will confirm shortly how the funding allocations will be calculated.