Special Educational Needs

(asked on 2nd July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent trends in real term funding for education on the ability of schools to provide high quality SEND support.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 8th July 2019

We are investing £43.5 billion into schools this year, and are committed to maintaining real terms per pupil funding in our schools. This includes £6.3 billion in high needs funding this year for children and young people with the most complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), up from £5 billion in 2013, and includes an additional £250 million, across 2018-19 and 2019-20, what was announced in December 2018.

Institute for Fiscal Studies figures show that real terms per pupil funding for 5 to 16 year olds in 2020 will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000 and more than 70% higher than in 1990.

However, we are aware that schools and local authorities are facing challenges in managing their budgets in the context of increasing costs and rising levels of demand for SEND support. We are also continuing to engage with schools and colleges, local authorities, health providers and families, to build a shared understanding of what is driving cost pressures, and to work with the sector to help manage them.

We are looking carefully at how much funding for education will be needed in future years, as we approach the next Spending Review.

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