Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure on special educational needs in England in 2023–24; and what is their forecast expenditure for 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Local authorities spent £7.9 billion on education for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the 2022/23 financial year. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) also allocated a further £1.0 billion on funding for SEND places directly to providers in that financial year. The outturn data for expenditure in the last financial year (2023/24) is not yet available but is due to be published later in 2024. Planned expenditure reported by local authorities for that year was £9.4 billion and the ESFA’s expenditure was £1.1 billion.
These figures do not include the amounts spent by mainstream schools and colleges from their budgets on children and young people with lower level SEND. The department does not collect this expenditure information from individual schools and colleges.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role they have played in providing funding for the commemoration events in Northern Ireland for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings; and what additional allocations they have made to each of the 11 councils in Northern Ireland to help them (1) commemorate, or (2) provide funding to groups within their council area to commemorate, the anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the maximum amount that the Department for Work and Pensions is seeking to recover from any individual recipient of carer's allowance as a result of overpayment of that allowance; and whether there is any cap on the total amount sought.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has the Department for Work and Pensions made of its own culpability in issuing overpayments to recipients of carer's allowance.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government from how many recipients of carer's allowance the Department for Work and Pensions is seeking repayment following overpayment of that allowance.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to forgoing repayment of the overpayment to recipients of carer’s allowance in instances where the Department for Work and Pensions is at fault for such overpayment.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what changes the Department for Work and Pensions has made to its procedures to ensure that the overpayment of carer's allowance to recipients cannot occur in the future.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current scale of antisemitic activity and incidents in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the school age population in England have been designated as having special educational needs in the 2023–24 academic year to date.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department publishes annual figures on special educational needs (SEN) for pupils in state-funded schools in England. The most recent figures are for January 2023, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.
These figures show that 4.3% of pupils had an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and a further 13.0% of pupils had SEN but no EHC plan (SEN support).
Updated information for January 2024 will be published on 20 June 2024.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with university Vice Chancellors to combat antisemitism on university campuses; and what steps they intend to take to improve the situation.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
On 9th May 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, chaired a roundtable at No 10 Downing Street with Vice Chancellors from universities across the UK and was joined by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, and other Ministers. The discussion focused on tackling antisemitism in higher education, including preventing an escalation of protest activity such as that seen in the United States in recent weeks.
On the same day, the department announced its intention to provide £500,000 to the University Jewish Chaplaincy, enabling it to rapidly boost the vital support it offers to Jewish students on campus.
In his Autumn Statement, my right hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education. The cornerstone of this package for higher education will be a new framework that will enable universities to demonstrate, through their processes and practice, a commitment to preventing and tackling antisemitic abuse.