Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assess unmet needs among children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities as part of their planned reforms set out in their primary schools white paper,  Every Child Achieving and Thriving, published on 23 February.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The early identification of special educational needs and disabilities is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people.

Our consultation proposed that we will introduce clear statutory duties on schools to identify and meet needs as early as possible, enabling timely and effective intervention for pupils with special educational needs (SEN).

To support delivery, we are strengthening the evidence base on what works in early identification and assessment across education settings.

We will also introduce National Inclusion Standards, equipping educators with evidence informed tools and strategies to identify, assess and support pupils with SEN, while sharing best practice nationally. This is backed by £1.8 billion of investment to expand capacity and expertise, ensuring every community can access Experts at Hand.

In parallel, government backed research led by UK Research and Innovation will develop and scale new approaches to early identification, strengths‑and‑needs assessment, and support, for integration into education settings by 2028.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that national price bands for independent school placements distinguish between profiteering and the legitimate costs of high-cost provision, including provision delivered by non-profit specialist schools.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government will develop a national cost framework for specialist provision packages, and we expect local authorities to commission provision based on that framework, whether that is within a specialist base in a mainstream school, or a special school, including those in the independent sector.

We will undertake a period of evidence gathering and stakeholder engagement to ensure that the framework is appropriately supporting high quality provision whilst tackling excessive prices and profit making.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of local authority attempts to introduce banding frameworks for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Many local authorities have systems which indicate the range of top-up funding that might be provided for children and young people with a particular type and complexity of need, sometimes referred to as ‘banding frameworks’. These can help determine levels of high needs top-up funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. A system which agrees likely levels of top-up funding in advance can also be an efficient, clear and transparent way of allocating funding.

The department has published guidance on how local authorities should allocate this funding. Section 7.4 of the high needs funding operational guidance sets out that top-up funding can reflect the costs of provision for a cohort of pupils at or within a school or college. The operational guidance is available on GOV.UK.

Funding does not need to be tied to the detailed provision that may be required or which is specified in education, health and care (EHC) plans, since schools and colleges have flexibility in deploying resources.

The local authority must be satisfied, however, that the final allocation of funding (both the top-up funding and other elements of funding) is sufficient to secure suitable provision for example, as outlined in an EHC plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure families are involved in the assessment of their children's needs and in the development of the children's individual support plans.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department recognises that families play a vital role in identifying and understanding their children’s needs, and we expect education settings to work in partnership with parents and carers as part of early identification, ongoing assessment and the timely provision of support.

We will place a duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for any child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The ISP will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person with SEND a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive, so that support is joined‑up, timely and genuinely centred on what will help them to thrive. ISPs will be used to communicate provision to parents and actions taken between parents and settings, supporting the relationship between home and setting. ISPs must be reviewed at least annually and may be reviewed more frequently as a child’s needs develop.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the (1) number, and (2) availability, of trained professionals needed to meet the plan for Experts at Hand included in the schools white paper Every child achieving and thriving, published on 23 February.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is providing substantial, targeted investment to help local areas grow and strengthen their specialist workforce. Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and rollout of the Experts at Hand offer.

Local area partnerships will design and implement their own Experts at Hand models, tailored to local needs and workforce capacity, supported by strong national oversight. The department will set the overall framework, provide guidance and tools, and work closely with local areas to ensure consistent quality. We have also announced £15 million for new speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles, as well as continuing our investment in the educational psychology workforce with £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, building on previous investment.

The department knows that continuing to build the specialist workforce is essential. It is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, as part of wider long-term workforce priorities such as the 10 Year Workforce Plan, to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that there are legal mechanisms for parents to hold education providers accountable for implementing individual support plans effectively and appropriately.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will provide a record of need and provision for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in school or college. They will allow settings to work alongside parents, providing a single, consistent record of what support has been tried, what has worked and what needs to change.

Under the proposals, settings will have a legal duty to produce an ISP for every child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those who also have an education health and care plan. Where there are concerns about provision within an ISP, parents and young people would be able to raise these directly with the setting. The department’s proposals include strengthening the complaints process through having an independent SEND expert on panels to hear complaints concerning provision for a child with SEND.