Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in access to Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment.

The department does not collect data on the regional distribution of Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment. However, we recognise that access to specialist support can vary between regions.

To address this, we are investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards (ICBs), to develop a new Experts at Hand offer, strengthening mainstream inclusion through access to health and specialist education support.

We are asking local areas to work together across education, health and other partners to design a new, joined-up offer of support. This will allow settings to access educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and other specialists earlier.

These specialists will also provide advice and training for school staff, helping to build confidence in supporting pupils, including those with visual impairments.