Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding schools and colleges will receive as a result of the announced special educational needs and disabilities reforms in (1) 2026–27, (2) 2027–28, (3) 2028–29, and (4) 2029–30.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In every year of this Parliament, core funding for schools and special educational needs and disabilities is expected to increase, subject to future spending reviews. The government is committed to prioritising early intervention and is making a major increase in investment, with £4 billion over the three years of the Spending Review. This will reverse the trend of late intervention and escalation in needs.
Within this total, the Inclusive Mainstream Fund will provide over £500 million per financial year, over three years, to schools, colleges and early years settings to develop and embed improved inclusion practice. On Wednesday 25 March, the department published methodology documents explaining how funding will be allocated for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund. Details on the funding for schools and mainstream 16-19 provision are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027. Details on the Inclusive Early Years Fund are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-early-years-fund-2026-to-2027. Funding from 2029 to 2030 onwards is subject to future spending reviews.
Also on 25 March, we announced further details on the allocation of £860 million of high needs capital funding as part of the landmark £3.7 billion announced to deliver 60,000 more specialist places. This funding will drive a transformative expansion of inclusion bases across the country, as well as adaptations to improve the inclusivity and accessibility of mainstream settings as well as supporting special school place creation where needed.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 24 February (HL Deb col 565), whether the £4 billion increase over the spending review period that has been allocated to fund special educational needs and disabilities reform is additional funding that increases the spending allocation to the Department for Education above that set out in the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The £4 billion in funding over the spending review period (2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29) is newly allocated funding from existing departmental budgets. This investment is additional to the core funding allocations for 2026/27 for early years, schools and post-16 funding that have already been announced.
The department confirmed an additional £3.5 billion of new funding for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in 2028/29, to support reforms to improve outcomes and experiences for children, young people and their families, as outlined in ‘SEND reform: putting children and young people first’.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the £3.5 billion of funding allocated to the Department for Education for 2028–29, additional to the previously planned funding at Autumn Budget 2025, will be spent on.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The £4 billion in funding over the spending review period (2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29) is newly allocated funding from existing departmental budgets. This investment is additional to the core funding allocations for 2026/27 for early years, schools and post-16 funding that have already been announced.
The department confirmed an additional £3.5 billion of new funding for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in 2028/29, to support reforms to improve outcomes and experiences for children, young people and their families, as outlined in ‘SEND reform: putting children and young people first’.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 24 February (HL Deb col 565), whether they will publish a breakdown by programme area of the £4 billion for special educational needs and disabilities reform over the next three years, including allocations for (1) the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, (2) Experts at Hand, (3) Best Start Family Hubs, and (4) a national training package.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first, the breakdown of our £4bn investment package, over the next three years, is as follows:
The government will publish breakdowns by programme area for this coming financial year as part of publishing allocations in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 9 February (HL13942), whether the review of childcare provision will cover (1) the availability of funded childcare places across the country, (2) the adequacy of funding rates provided to settings, and (3) the sufficiency, distribution and qualification levels of the childcare workforce.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the department’s Childcare and Early Education Review, we will look at how to improve access to early education and care, making the system simpler for families and delivering a coherent local offer. The Review will focus on improving outcomes for all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and on helping parents participate in the labour market.
Alongside this, the Early Years Funding Consultation is considering how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure it remains fair, reflects delivery costs, and supports areas with higher levels of need. We also work closely with local authorities to monitor sufficiency and understand the barriers to delivering funded places.
On workforce, we are expanding funded Early Years Initial Teacher Training places, introducing financial incentives in disadvantaged areas, and will be consulting on routes and professional status to support a strong, sustainable profession.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 9 February (HL13942), whether the review of childcare provision will assess the effect of funded childcare provision on (1) labour market participation, (2) family living costs, and (3) children's outcomes, including school readiness.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the department’s Childcare and Early Education Review, we will look at how to improve access to early education and care, making the system simpler for families and delivering a coherent local offer. The Review will focus on improving outcomes for all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and on helping parents participate in the labour market.
Alongside this, the Early Years Funding Consultation is considering how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure it remains fair, reflects delivery costs, and supports areas with higher levels of need. We also work closely with local authorities to monitor sufficiency and understand the barriers to delivering funded places.
On workforce, we are expanding funded Early Years Initial Teacher Training places, introducing financial incentives in disadvantaged areas, and will be consulting on routes and professional status to support a strong, sustainable profession.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many additional educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, funded by the special educational needs and disabilities plan announced on 23 February, they expect to complete training in (1) 2026–27, (2) 2027–28, (3) 2028–29, and (4) 2029–30.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Experts at Hand will be delivered through a blend of existing specialist capacity and new staff brought in over time, ensuring the expertise available grows sustainably as the offer develops.
We recently announced £26 million investment to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year, starting their training in 2026 and 2027, followed by further investment from 2028 to train even larger cohorts, subject to a future spending review. This builds on £31 million already being invested since 2023 to train around 200 educational psychologists per year.
The educational psychology doctorate is a three-year course and those who began their training in 2023 will graduate and enter the workforce in 2026/27. Together, these investments will result in approximately 200 trained educational psychologists graduating each year, in 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, and 2029/30 respectively.
We also announced an investment of over £15 million in speech and language therapists (SaLTs). This is to upskill more SaLT support workers and to establish new SaLT advanced practitioners to ensure more therapists and support workers are working with education settings to support additional children and young people. We will also promote the Level 6 SaLT degree apprenticeship to boost the pipeline.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 5 January (HL13131), when they expect to be in a position to share more information on the planned review of childcare provision.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Childcare Review is currently in the early stages of cross government discussions to consider how the early education and childcare alongside family support works for families and children. We will also be working with stakeholders throughout the year to gather insights and build our evidence base. We aim to conclude the Review later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the timeframe is for the Department of Education’s review of childcare provision as announced in the Budget, and whether the terms of reference for this review will be published.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As announced in the Autumn Budget 2025, the department will lead a review of childcare provision. This review aims to simplify the system for providers and families, improving access and strengthening the impact of government support. The review is expected to take place in 2026, and we will share more information in due course.