Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of reforms to integrated care boards, including staffing reductions, on their role in SEND commissioning.

The department will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care as well as NHS England to ensure that special educational needs and disabilities reforms are co-ordinated across education and health, and local leaders are supported to manage the transition effectively.

The government is also providing substantial, targeted investment to help local areas grow and strengthen their specialist workforce. Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and roll out the Experts at Hand offer.

We have also announced over £40 million to expand the specialist workforce, including £15 million for new advanced speech and language therapy practitioner roles, and £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027.