Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for SEN support in schools for the purposes of ensuring that autistic children who do not have an education health and care plan are supported.

The majority of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) do not have an education, health and care plan and are supported by their schools from the allocations of funding they receive for all their pupils. We have announced that significant additional funding is being made available for schools.

In financial year 2022-23 alone, core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to financial year 2021-22, a 5% real terms per pupil boost. This total includes a £2.5 billion increase in mainstream school funding for 5 to 16 year olds in financial year 2022-23, compared to this financial year 2021-22. This is equivalent to an average 5.8% cash increase, or £300, per pupil – with each local authority forecast to see at least a 4.7% increase per pupil for the mainstream schools in their area.

The national funding formula continues to distribute this funding fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts. It is provided to cover mainstream schools’ core spending, including support for pupils with low to mid-level SEND. Regulations require local authorities to identify such an amount within each school’s budget, and to calculate that amount using a sum of £6,000 (per pupil) as the threshold below which the school will be expected to meet the additional costs of pupils with special educational needs from its core budget, before accessing further high needs top-up funding from the local authority. It remains for individual schools to determine the best use of the funds available to them, to support all their pupils, including those with SEND.

Alongside additional funding, we have made significant progress with the SEND Review and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, committed, at the 3 November 2021 Education Select Committee, that in the first three months of this year we would publish proposals for full public consultation.