Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 20456 on Special Educational Needs: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Counci, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities that are not delivering their education, health and care function as a result of constraints upon the general fund.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Responsibility for local authority funding lies with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. EHC plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.
In 2022, 49.2% of EHC plans were issued within the twenty week time limit. Where local authorities are failing to deliver, the department works with them using a range of improvement programmes and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist advisers to address weaknesses. The department is also putting in place measures such as developing new national standards and a standardised EHC plan process to improve the SEND system so that, where an EHC plan is needed, they can be issued as quickly as possible to ensure children and young people can access the support they need.
Report May. 11 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: industry efforts to raise funds, and then push that money back out to the experts who know where it needs
May. 10 2024
Source Page: England's World Leading Attendance Drive ContinuesFound: was across the country and all year groups – including key vulnerable cohorts such as children with special
Report May. 10 2024
Committee: Statutory Instruments (Joint Committee)Found: House of Commons Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments Twentieth Report of Session 2023–24 Drawing special
Report May. 10 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: not working effectively with the organisations within its group to enable earlier publication and needs
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many and what proportion of supported internships have been given to young people without an education, health and care plan under the pilot announced in the Spring Budget 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the pilot extending supported internships to young people without an education, health and care plan.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many supported internships have been given to young people with an education, health and care plan in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, which local authorities have received training from DFN Project Search on developing their local supported internship offer.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure the safety valve programme supports SEND services in York.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Safety Valve programme is designed to improve special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services by making the very best use of resources to deliver the support that children and young people need.
The agreements, based on proposals put forward by each local authority, hold local authorities to account for doing so in the most effective and sustainable way for the benefit of children and young people.
The last few years have shown that increased spend does not automatically equate to better outcomes for children and young people; running systems more effectively does. Safety Valve plans generally place emphasis on improving the availability of support in and to mainstream schools, including increasing early access to support, building parental confidence in the system and increasing the availability of local provision. It is only through taking these steps and through the genuine collaboration of all partners locally that high needs systems can be delivered effectively and sustainably for the future.
City of York Council made a Safety Valve agreement in 2021, with the department contributing £17.1 million. The authority agreed to reform their high needs system such that they would subsequently reach a positive in-year balance on its Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and eliminate its cumulative deficit by the end of the agreement in 2025/26, while continuing to deliver for children and young people with SEND. City of York Council is on track to meet the deficit reduction targets set out in the agreement both for the current reporting year and the lifetime of the plan.
The department continues to provide City of York Council with support through the Safety Valve programme via regular contact with department officials, SEND advisors and financial advisors.