Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the number of school places for children with SEND in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year. The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with special educational needs and disabilities, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

Slough Borough Council has been allocated £2.6 million for 2025/26 and West Berkshire Council has been allocated just under £1.5 million. It is up to the local authorities to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise their funding to meet local needs.