Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Ellie Chowns
Main Page: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)Department Debates - View all Ellie Chowns's debates with the Department for Education
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Ellie Chowns Excerpts(4 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Catherine McKinnell
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is understandable that a huge number of hon. Members want to ask questions on this subject. We have inherited an appalling legacy of failure on this front. We have prioritised the issue and we are determined to fix it, but that will take time, as hon. Members have recognised, but we are moving at pace to fix the broken system.
Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)
Parents and teachers in North Herefordshire tell me how concerned they are that special educational needs funding has stagnated for the last 10 years, while needs have increased. I visited Westfield school in my constituency, which is in desperate need of capital investment. It was allocated funding under the school rebuilding programme, but the implementation of that programme has been very slow. Can the Minister assure me that she remains committed to the programme, that it is on track, and that she will amend the way that the funding system works to incentivise mainstream inclusion?
Catherine McKinnell
On the hon. Lady’s final question, I can assure her that we are determined to prioritise mainstream inclusion, and to ensure that schools are supported. We will have the framework in place to encourage, incentivise and support schools to do what we know will create the best outcomes for the vast majority of children in this country: inclusion in a mainstream system where they can thrive.