Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when will her planned timetable and proposed transitional funding for changes to SEND be communicated to schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government set out its planned reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system in the Schools White Paper published on 23 February 2026 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving.
Further details on the distribution of that funding will be published in the due course.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to introduce testing for neurodiversity in educational settings for students aged 16 and above.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings is a key part of the government’s ambition to ensure that all children and young people receive the support they need to achieve and thrive, in the most appropriate setting.
The department has recently announced a new £200 million landmark teacher training programme which will support the workforce in identifying and supporting the individual needs of learners.
By 2028, we will have invested up to £15 million to build the evidence base for the National Inclusion Standards. This will include a digital library of high-quality identification tools and provision across the 0-25 system covering all layers of support and making clear what provision should be available in every setting.
The special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice sets out expectations for supporting neurodiverse learners, and places strong emphasis on inclusive practice.
It remains the case that providers have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for all their disabled students.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the SEND teacher training programme will be allocated to schools and early years settings in Eastleigh constituency; and how many teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in Eastleigh will be supported by that programme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teacher training offer comprises an investment of over £200 million over the course of this Parliament. This significant investment, forms a central pillar of the government’s SEND reform plans, helping to secure a fairer system where effective support is available for every child with SEND from early years to the age of 25.
This training offer will be freely available to all leaders, teachers and teaching assistants working in schools, colleges, childminders and nurseries across England, including those in Eastleigh. Training packages will be developed with the needs of different educators and sectors in mind. Some training will be accessible at any time, while other elements may require registering with a provider. More details on how to access the different packages will be published on GOV.UK in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide further (a) financial and (b) other support to the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership in the West Midlands.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department continues to work closely with The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership to ensure rapid and sustained improvement across its schools. This includes weekly meetings focused on stabilising learning and supporting both staff and pupils across the trust. Leadership and governance at the trust have been significantly strengthened, with changes to both its executive team and board, helping to ensure the capability and capacity to drive the necessary improvements. The department will continue to monitor progress closely and provide support to secure financial sustainability and high‑quality education for all pupils within the trust. The government is delivering on its manifesto commitment by legislating to introduce Ofsted inspection of academy trusts, and related intervention powers for the department. Trust inspection will help drive better outcomes for children and provide greater confidence for parents.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2025 on Investment in high needs place, HCWS1163, how much each local authority will receive from the £3 billion investment in SEND school places.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In December, the department announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision. This funding is intended to create facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. We will confirm local authority allocations later this spring.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce delays for members of the Teachers Pension who have submitted their remedial service statement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recalculating benefits for retired members is a complex process. For those members retiring, these cases are relatively straightforward as no benefits are already in payment. For retired members, additional complications around tax, interest rules and system functionality required extensive consultation.
Capita, as the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme (TPS) administrator, are processing Remediable Service Statement (RSS) choices and aim to complete payments as quickly as possible.
The issuing and payment of members’ RSS choices is a high priority and the department is continually exploring ways to improve payment times with Capita, which includes recruiting additional staff and automating functions wherever possible. Members’ original pension benefits will continue to be paid until their choice has been implemented.
In summer 2026, administration of the TPS will become the responsibility of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The department is working with TCS to finalise the timeline for issuing all RSSs and any subsequent payments.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the new Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework makes no provision for ensuring that supply teachers can access the teachers’ pension scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations currently provide for supply teachers to participate in the teachers’ pension scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer. These are local authorities, academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the scheme employer.
Where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.
Supply teachers employed by agencies will continue to have access to alternative workplace pensions.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve supply teachers’ access to the teachers’ pension scheme under the new Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations currently provide for supply teachers to participate in the teachers’ pension scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer. These are local authorities, academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the scheme employer.
Where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.
Supply teachers employed by agencies will continue to have access to alternative workplace pensions.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's publications entitled 10-year plan to revitalise schools and colleges for every child, and Education estates strategy: a decade of national renewal, published on 11 February 2026, how many inclusion bases in secondary schools will be added in each year of the 10-year plan; and how much funding is allocated to inclusion bases in each year of the plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In our consultation on special educational needs and disabilities, the department has set out our ambition that, in time, every secondary school will have an inclusion base.
Where new places are needed, this will be supported by the £3.7 billion in high needs capital that we are investing between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. £740 million of this funding has already been allocated, and allocations for 2026/27 will be published in the spring.
Currently, provision is inconsistent across the country, which is why we are also going to improve data collection on which schools have inclusion bases, so we can make sure that all pupils are given the support they need.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce mandatory CPD for all teachers to enable them to (a) identify the common signs of dyslexia and (b) adapt their classroom teaching to support dyslexic children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including pupils with dyslexia. In January, we announced the most ambitious SEND training offer ever seen in the English education system. Backed by £200 million, the new offer will cover children with SEND from 0 to 25. More details on the training are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/200-million-landmark-send-teacher-training-programme.
The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading. As part of teachers’ continuous professional development, the ‘Reading Ambition for All’ programme will improve outcomes for children in primary who need additional support.
The SEND code of practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEN does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, we expect teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.
To identify need, we are strengthening the evidence base to improve early identification in mainstream settings. Recently published evidence reviews will help drive inclusive practices, highlighting what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches. The ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme is researching tools that settings can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children and young people.
From 2024, the national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) became the mandatory qualification for SENCOs, supporting participants to develop the essential knowledge and skills needed to set the strategic direction of SEND policy in schools and understand the conditions in which pupils with SEND can thrive.