Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) NHS staff and (c) trade unions on the level of (i) training and (ii) skills required for staff who support staff children with SEND; and if she will consider the potential merits of helping ensure (A) that training is recognised and accredited and (B) skills are reflected in the pay and reward system.

We know that joined up working across health, education and care services is particularly important for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), which is why a cross government approach is being taken. The SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published on 2 March 2023, was jointly signed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and set out a package of support from early years right through to further education, to ensure that the multitude of professionals who work with children and young people with SEND have the right skills, knowledge and expertise.

The Improvement Plan committed the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care to working together to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning. The Improvement Plan also committed to exploring opportunities to build teacher expertise through the review of the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF). This review started earlier this year and aims to conclude by the end of 2023, with a view to implementing changes when the ECF delivery contracts are renewed. We are accepting in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%, the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years.

The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document (STPCD) for 2022 sets out that an additional Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance must be paid to teachers in a SEN post that requires a mandatory SEN qualification and involves teaching pupils with SEN. The full STPCD is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1110990/2022_STPCD.pdf

Most schools, including academies, follow local government pay scales for school support staff. Local government pay scales are set through negotiation between the Local Government Association (LGA) and local government trade unions. Central government does not have any formal role in these matters.