Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the finding of the Disabled Children’s Partnerships report, Left Behind, published 16 July 2021, that over half of local authorities have failed to meet their targets for providing Education, Health and Care plan assessments, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on increasing long-term funding for disabled children’s social care services.

HM Treasury Ministers regularly meet with other government departments and a range of stakeholders, which includes discussions around support for disabled children and young people.

To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. At last year’s Spending Review, we provided councils with access to over £1bn of spending for social care through £300m of new social care grant and the ability to introduce a 3% adult social care precept. This funding was additional to the £1 billion social care grant announced in 2019 which was maintained in line with the government's manifesto.

We are also increasing education funding for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities by nearly a quarter in two years, to £8 billion this year.

We will continue to work with other government departments, including Department for Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities &

Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s social care services.