Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department maintains records of local authorities that have received multiple Ombudsman findings relating to failures in the delivery of Education, Health and Care Plans, SEND assessments or statutory timescales; and what criteria are used to determine whether additional intervention, monitoring or formal action is required in cases of persistent non-compliance.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is independent of government and publishes information about complaints and findings relating to local authorities, including matters concerning special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Annual local government complaint reviews can be found on the LGSCO website.
The department considers a range of evidence to ensure local authorities are held to account. This includes Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection outcomes, outcomes for children and young people, and local improvement activity. All local areas are due to receive a full inspection under the current Ofsted / CQC Area SEND inspection framework by the end of 2027.
Decisions on whether additional monitoring, support or intervention are required are taken on a case-by-case basis and informed by the nature of identified concerns. Repeated ombudsman findings may contribute to the wider evidence considered by the department when assessing local authority performance and determining appropriate improvement and intervention activity.
Where serious concerns arise, the department may intervene directly, using statutory powers and improvement partners to support recovery and improve services for children and young people.
In our response to the SEND consultation and throughout the reforms themselves, we will set out how we will make local partnership working more effective and support all partners to drive SEND reforms across all local areas.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what enforcement powers are available to her Department where a local authority is repeatedly found by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to have failed in its statutory duties towards children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities; and how frequently such powers have been used in each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is independent of government and publishes information about complaints and findings relating to local authorities, including matters concerning special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Annual local government complaint reviews can be found on the LGSCO website.
The department considers a range of evidence to ensure local authorities are held to account. This includes Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection outcomes, outcomes for children and young people, and local improvement activity. All local areas are due to receive a full inspection under the current Ofsted / CQC Area SEND inspection framework by the end of 2027.
Decisions on whether additional monitoring, support or intervention are required are taken on a case-by-case basis and informed by the nature of identified concerns. Repeated ombudsman findings may contribute to the wider evidence considered by the department when assessing local authority performance and determining appropriate improvement and intervention activity.
Where serious concerns arise, the department may intervene directly, using statutory powers and improvement partners to support recovery and improve services for children and young people.
In our response to the SEND consultation and throughout the reforms themselves, we will set out how we will make local partnership working more effective and support all partners to drive SEND reforms across all local areas.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the number and proportion of complaints relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) that are escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the underlying causes of such complaints.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is independent of government and publishes information about complaints and findings relating to local authorities, including matters concerning special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Annual local government complaint reviews can be found on the LGSCO website.
The department considers a range of evidence to ensure local authorities are held to account. This includes Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection outcomes, outcomes for children and young people, and local improvement activity. All local areas are due to receive a full inspection under the current Ofsted / CQC Area SEND inspection framework by the end of 2027.
Decisions on whether additional monitoring, support or intervention are required are taken on a case-by-case basis and informed by the nature of identified concerns. Repeated ombudsman findings may contribute to the wider evidence considered by the department when assessing local authority performance and determining appropriate improvement and intervention activity.
Where serious concerns arise, the department may intervene directly, using statutory powers and improvement partners to support recovery and improve services for children and young people.
In our response to the SEND consultation and throughout the reforms themselves, we will set out how we will make local partnership working more effective and support all partners to drive SEND reforms across all local areas.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with representatives of SMEs on the potential introduction of incentives to support compliance with the Gatsby Benchmarks for young people with Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We want every young person with an education, health and care (EHC) plan to benefit from inclusive careers guidance and meaningful workplace experiences.
We have no plans to introduce specific financial incentives linked directly to the Gatsby Benchmarks. Through the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and careers hubs, we help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate by providing brokerage, employer networks, guidance, special educational needs and disabilities-focused resources and support to deliver inclusive employer encounters and workplace experiences.
The CEC’s Employer Standards help businesses improve the quality and inclusivity of their education outreach. More than 1,650 employers have completed a self-assessment, and 83% say engagement with schools and colleges helps them develop talent pipelines.
Programmes such as supported internships and Access to Work also help reduce practical and administrative barriers for employers providing opportunities for young people with EHC plans.
We will continue to engage SMEs through the CEC and careers hubs to increase participation and remove barriers for young people with EHC plans.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available to SMEs to provide Gatsby Benchmark-aligned careers and workplace opportunities for students with Education, Health and Care Plans, and what steps her Department plans to take to increase employer participation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We want every young person with an education, health and care (EHC) plan to benefit from inclusive careers guidance and meaningful workplace experiences.
We have no plans to introduce specific financial incentives linked directly to the Gatsby Benchmarks. Through the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and careers hubs, we help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate by providing brokerage, employer networks, guidance, special educational needs and disabilities-focused resources and support to deliver inclusive employer encounters and workplace experiences.
The CEC’s Employer Standards help businesses improve the quality and inclusivity of their education outreach. More than 1,650 employers have completed a self-assessment, and 83% say engagement with schools and colleges helps them develop talent pipelines.
Programmes such as supported internships and Access to Work also help reduce practical and administrative barriers for employers providing opportunities for young people with EHC plans.
We will continue to engage SMEs through the CEC and careers hubs to increase participation and remove barriers for young people with EHC plans.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial and (b) non-financial incentives her Department is planning to take to support SMEs in meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks for students with Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We want every young person with an education, health and care (EHC) plan to benefit from inclusive careers guidance and meaningful workplace experiences.
We have no plans to introduce specific financial incentives linked directly to the Gatsby Benchmarks. Through the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and careers hubs, we help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate by providing brokerage, employer networks, guidance, special educational needs and disabilities-focused resources and support to deliver inclusive employer encounters and workplace experiences.
The CEC’s Employer Standards help businesses improve the quality and inclusivity of their education outreach. More than 1,650 employers have completed a self-assessment, and 83% say engagement with schools and colleges helps them develop talent pipelines.
Programmes such as supported internships and Access to Work also help reduce practical and administrative barriers for employers providing opportunities for young people with EHC plans.
We will continue to engage SMEs through the CEC and careers hubs to increase participation and remove barriers for young people with EHC plans.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures her Department will take to ensure adequate support is in place for integrating SEND pupils into mainstream educational settings as part of its planned SEND reforms.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is improving access to specialist support in mainstream settings through an investment of ÂŁ1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), to deliver a new Experts at Hand offer. This will enable earlier access to specialist support and interventions for children and young people in early years settings, schools and colleges.
This is supported by ÂŁ40 million of investment in the specialist workforce, including ÂŁ15 million to expand the speech and language therapy workforce. This will fund apprenticeships, upskill staff, and ensure an advanced speech and language therapy practitioner is available in every ICB geographic area.
The remaining ÂŁ26 million will support the training of at least 200 educational psychologists per year in 2026 and 2027.
In addition, we are further investing ÂŁ1.6 billion in an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support the development of a more inclusive education system. Additional funding will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost their existing core funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with over ÂŁ500 million per year over the next three years to help schools strengthen their inclusive offer.
This funding, alongside their existing core funding for SEND, will help equip schools to invest in high quality, adaptive teaching; inclusive pedagogy and decision-making; and creating safe, calm and accessible learning environments.
The SEND reforms propose the development of Individual Support Plans to 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 be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support 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.
We have engaged extensively with stakeholders, including parents, carers and sector representatives, throughout the recent consultation period and will continue to do so as we take health and education reforms forward.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide further support to care leavers attending university.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All eligible care leavers, regardless of age or personal circumstances, who are attending undergraduate higher education courses in the 2026/27 academic year, will be eligible for the maximum loan for living costs, removing key barriers to accessing education.
This reform is central to the government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring, that everyone, regardless of their background, has the chance to get on in life.
Supporting disadvantaged and underrepresented students in higher education remains a key government priority. To this end, through the Strategic Priorities Grant £253 million has been allocated to eligible providers in the current academic year 2025/26 to support successful student outcomes: full-time and part-time; the disabled students ’premium; and mental health premium.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) communications between parents of children with special educational needs and local authorities are transparent and (b) authorities are accountable in their decision making.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities are responsible for identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and should communicate openly with children, young people and their families.
The SEND Code of Practice sets out that they must consult children, young people, parents and carers when preparing and reviewing their Local Offer. The department supports family involvement through funding Parent Carer Forums, regional participation events and local information, advice and support services.
Where parents disagree with particular decisions, they can use local complaints processes, and, for EHC (education, health and care) related issues, seek early resolution through mediation and appeal to a First-tier Tribunal.
Area SEND inspections provide independent evaluation of local arrangements, and the department, alongside NHS England, provides support and challenge to local area partnerships, including through the use of intervention, which we propose to strengthen, where the quality of local provision is not acceptable.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of multi‑agency information‑sharing protocols between local authorities, schools and health bodies in the EHC needs assessment process.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice sets out the importance of information sharing across education, health and social care to support effective needs assessments and planning processes.
The department is determined to restore confidence in the system of support for children and young people with SEND and ensure they get the chance to achieve and thrive in their education and beyond, as set out in the recently published SEND reform consultation document, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first.
We are committed to co-designing the future needs assessment process with parents, local authorities and experts to make sure we get it right. We continue to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with their education, health and care plan processes. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help the local authority to identify the problems and put in place an effective recovery plan.