Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that people in Barnsley with severe autism have local access to specialist schools and services without having to travel to Wakefield or Rotherham for such school and services.

Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. If a local authority identifies a shortage of special school places for children and young people in its area, resulting in a significant number having to travel a long way to access an appropriate placement, it will need to consider creating or expanding specialist provision, either attached to mainstream schools or in special schools.

The department has allocated £215 million of capital funding (over and above basic need funding) to help build new places at mainstream and special schools, and to improve existing places to benefit current and future pupils. Local authorities, through consultation with local stakeholders, should decide how best to spend their allocation to meet local needs.