Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan, published on 2 March 2023, what steps her Department plans to take to support the London Borough of Enfield through the Delivering Better Value and the Safety Valve programmes.

​​The department is committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the support they need to realise their potential.

High needs funding to support children and young people with complex SEND is rising to £10.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of over 50% compared to 2019/20. Of this, Enfield Council’s high needs funding allocation for 2023/24 will be £76 million, an 11.5% per head increase compared to the amount of high needs funding allocated in the 2022/23 financial year.

The department is also currently working with Enfield Council as part of the Delivering Better Value in SEND programme, which aims to support up to 55 local authorities, and their partners, to improve the delivery of SEND services for children and young people, while functioning sustainably.

Enfield Council is currently engaged in Phase One of the programme, which focuses root cause diagnostics to identify the highest impact changes that can be made to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and improve financial sustainability for local authorities.

Following the Phase One diagnostics, the local authority will create a plan to deliver improvements across their local systems and following a successful grant application, will receive funding from the department. This funding will assist with implementation and ongoing support as they move into Phase Two of the programme.