Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local funding authority is responsible for financial support for high needs students aged 16 to 25 when they study in a different area to that in which they reside.
Answered by Anne Milton
The local authority responsible for making provision for students aged 16 to 25 who have special educational needs and disabilities, and who have an education, health and care plan, is the local authority of the area in which the student normally resides.
In order to secure such provision the local authority provides the institution concerned with high needs funding, if the costs of additional support for the student exceed £6,000 per annum.
There are exceptions to this if the young person is in a children’s home or foster care, and is looked after by a local authority other than the authority of the area in which they normally reside. In that case we would expect the local authority that looks after the young person to meet the costs of additional support in excess of £6,000.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, where Government responsibility lies for the funding of high needs support for students aged 16 to 25 who are studying outside the UK.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
High needs funding is provided to local authorities through the high needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant, and supports provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25, including provision named in education, health and care (EHC) plans.
In deciding on the appropriate placement for a child or young person, local authorities have a duty to consider the efficient use of local authority resources, as well as whether the placement can meet the young person’s needs. If it is deemed necessary to secure provision outside of the UK for a child or young person with an EHC plan, the local authority may use its high needs budget to fund the special educational provision. There is no responsibility for local authorities to provide funding for provision outside of the UK if the child or young person’s needs do not require an EHC plan.
We are not aware of any current cases where local authorities are supporting pupils with special educational needs outside of the UK.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consultation her Department held with Kent County Council on recent funding decisions for newly-assessed high-needs pupils.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The funding for newly-assessed high needs pupils is decided by each local authority. We do not prescribe in detail how much local authorities should allocate to their schools for their pupils with SEN, or how much schools should spend in making provision for them. Kent County Council responded to our recent consultation on the national funding formula, but this concerned how high needs funding is distributed between local authorities.