Oral Answers to Questions

Ellie Chowns Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

I agree with the Secretary of State that children should be able to go to an appropriate placement within decent reach of their home. North Herefordshire is one of the most rural constituencies in England, yet her Department wrote to Herefordshire council shortly before Christmas, cancelling plans for a school that would have provided specialist places for children with autism spectrum disorder and replacing it with a grossly inadequate allocation of high needs funding, and not progressing the rebuilding of Westfield school. Will the Secretary of State visit my constituency to meet families of children with special educational needs, and understand the specific need in rural areas for those local, state-funded positions?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am sure my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards will be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss those particular cases. We are investing more in support for local authorities, including through capital budgets. The hon. Lady will know that local authorities have until 27 February to tell us whether they wish to proceed with the projects or whether they intend to create the places in other ways. This is about bringing forward investment and making sure the places are created much more quickly than they are right now. That runs alongside more investment into our schools through the high-needs budget and £200 million of extra investment for training that, again, is sorely needed.