Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the National Deaf Children’s Society’s press release of 18 March 2019, A system in crisis: the daily battle for specialist teachers, if his Department will increase support for teachers of deaf children.

I am determined that all children and young people, including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, receive the support they need to achieve the success they deserve.

We recognise that the high needs budget faces significant pressures and our additional investment will help to manage those pressures. The additional £250 million funding for high needs brings the total allocated for high needs to £6.1 billion 2018-19 and £6.3 billion in 2019-20.

The ‘Special Educational Needs in England: January 2018’ statistical release showed that 94% of pupils that identified with hearing impairment as their primary type of need are learning in mainstream settings. It is therefore important that teachers in mainstream schools, as well as those in specialist settings, have access to the training they need to support their individual pupils. The Whole School SEND Consortium is being funded by the Department to embed special educational needs and disability (SEND) into school improvement in order to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of SEND, including children and young people with hearing impairment.

I recently met with the National Deaf Children’s Society and asked my officials to consider their proposal for a central bursary scheme for Teachers of the Deaf. They will report to me once they have collected all of the relevant information.