Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding covid-19 recovery policies for disabled children.

We recognise that extended school and college restrictions have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s learning, health and wellbeing, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to supporting them and their families.

Since June 2020, we have announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery in schools, 16-19 providers and early years settings.

We have consistently prioritised children who attend specialist settings by providing additional uplifts to these settings in both the 2020 Catch-up Premium and the 2021 Recovery Premium. In mainstream settings, school leaders are able to target these initiatives to vulnerable children and are able to use the recovery premium to meet wider non-academic needs. Funding announced for school-led tutoring will also provide greater flexibility to schools and we anticipate that this will especially benefit children and young people with SEND in all settings, where tutors familiar to these children can support them to realise the benefits of tuition. Specialist settings were given an uplift to deliver summer schools, at three times the normal rate.

The government is committed to an ambitious, long-term education recovery plan. The next stage will include a review of time spent in school and 16-19 education and the impact this could have on children and young people’s attainment and wellbeing. The findings of the review will be set out later in the year to inform the spending review. We will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on education and consider what more needs to be done to help children and young people, including those with disabilities, catch up.