Special Educational Needs

(asked on 3rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of SEN funding.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 11th March 2020

No child or young person should be held back from reaching their potential, including those with complex special needs. We have announced £780 million of additional high needs funding for 2020-21 financial year. This is an increase of 12% compared to 2019-20, bringing the total amount provided to support those with the most complex needs to £7.2 billion and is the largest year-on-year increase since the high needs funding block was created in 2013.

Richmond upon Thames will receive £27.6 million in high needs funding in 2020-21 which is £2.4 million more than in 2019-20.

We will also invest a total of £365 million through the special provision capital fund from 2018-19 to 2020-21. This funding will help local authorities to create new places and improve facilities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Funding for future years will be decided in due course as part of the Spending Review. Richmond upon Thames has been allocated a total of £2.7 million from 2018-19 to 2020-21 through the special provision capital fund.

The response to cost pressures cannot just be about the amount of funding available. We have launched a review of the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system to see what further improvements are necessary to make sure every child gets the education that is right for them. This review will help us to establish a sustainable and effective SEND system in the future.

We are also working with local authorities that have the largest deficits on their Dedicated schools grant (DSG), including Richmond upon Thames, to make sure that they have realistic recovery plans and that they have the support they need to implement them. The government has recently made clear that DSG deficits must be carried forward from year to year, unless local authorities obtain the Secretary of State’s agreement to pay them off from general funds. We are working with stakeholders to prepare further guidance on this subject.

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