Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of research conducted by Sense that 52 per cent of local authorities do not employ multi-sensory impairment (MSI) teachers, if his Department will create a MSI education fund for local authorities to employ MSI teachers.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response will outline the information for England only.

The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with multi-sensory impairments, receive the support they need to achieve in their early years, at school and college. Local authorities in England are required to publish information on the availability of specialist services and support commissioned and provided for children and young people with multi-sensory impairments in a local offer. To ensure local needs are met, they must work with children, young people, and their families to develop this. On the issue of funding for local authorities to support children with multi-sensory impairments, I refer the hon. Member for Strangford to the answer I gave on 8 March 2022 to Question 133247.