Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance to local authorities in England about special school expansion and historical special educational needs and disability deficits; and if so, whether they will publish it.

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

The department has issued guidance relevant to special school expansion in high needs provision capital allocations. This sets out how councils should assess need, plan delivery routes for new capacity, and, where appropriate, expand or refurbish existing special schools, while also strengthening mainstream inclusion through inclusion bases.

Guidance on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits has also been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The explanatory note confirms that High Needs Stability Grant payments, covering up to ninety per cent of high needs related DSG deficits accrued up to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, will only be released once a Local Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Reform Plan has been approved. This requirement was reiterated in the material circulated alongside the Local SEND Reform Plan commission.

All documents are available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Government initiatives launched between 2010 and 2024 in narrowing the attainment gap in schools.

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

Despite the efforts of dedicated staff, our school system is not serving all children well, with unacceptable disparities in attainment existing across all phases of education and all areas of the country.

Disadvantaged children, especially white working-class children, and those with special educational needs and disabilities are not succeeding as they should.

The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils remains high and persistent at both primary and secondary.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children and young people.

When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved, equating to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.

To deliver this we will provide family support to help more disadvantaged children arrive at reception school ready, strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, broaden the curriculum and offer high-quality enrichment opportunities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 28 January (HL Deb col 1030), what inspection arrangements they are proposing for the governance of single academy trusts.

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

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces new powers for Ofsted to inspect academy trusts. These inspections will focus on trusts, rather than schools. The detailed arrangements will be set out in secondary legislation and subject to proposed consultation.