Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 250743 on Special Educational Needs: Finance, how many and what proportion of children and young people had an Education Health and Care Plan in each year since 2013 and 2019; and how much funding his Department allocated to high needs in each of those years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The level of high needs funding for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) for each year are published in the dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations each year, as follows:
Year | Amount |
2013-14 | £5.0 billion |
2014-15 | £5.2 billion |
2015-16 | £5.2 billion |
2016-17 | £5.3 billion |
2017-18* | £5.8 billion |
2018-19** | £6.1 billion |
2019-20** | £6.3 billion |
* In 2017-18 the baselines of the high needs block and the schools block within DSG were adjusted, to take account of local authorities’ spending decisions.
** Includes the £125 million added to the high needs block in 2018-19 and 2019-20, in recognition of the cost pressures local authorities have been facing, announced in December 2018.
Information on the number and proportion of children in schools with an education, health and care (EHC) plan or previously statement of SEN are published in the annual ‘SEN in England’ statistical release. A time series can be found in Table 1 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2018.
Information on all young people (up to age 25) with an EHC plan is published in the annual ‘Statements of SEN and EHC Plans’ statistical release. A time series can be found in Table 1 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018.
The first full year that statutory EHC plans were in place was 2015. Figures prior to this, therefore, relate to statements only. Table 2 in the following link includes the number of new EHC plans during 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018.
It is important to note that the number of EHC plans and statements of SEN does not include learning difficulty assessments (LDAs). These were previously used in a similar way as an EHC plan, for young people with SEN at a post-16 level, but were replaced by EHC plans from 2015. The last record of LDAs were removed from the system in 2016.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide additional funding for early support for children with mental health problems.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is working closely with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to support schools and colleges to provide support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues and secure specialist treatment where it is needed.
The NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019 announced that by 2023/24 an extra 345,000 children and young people in England aged 0-25 will receive mental health support via NHS funded mental health services and new Mental Health Support Teams. Mental health services will continue to receive a growing share of the NHS budget, with funding to grow by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Spending on children and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than adult services, and faster than other NHS spending. As set out in the 'Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision' green paper, the new support teams will work with groups of schools and colleges to provide swift access to support for children and young people with emerging and mild and moderate needs and support referrals to more specialist treatment.
The Department for Education is providing up to £95 million between 2019/20 and 2023/24 to support the delivery of the green paper proposals, including the costs of a significant training programme for senior mental health leads, to help schools and colleges to put in place whole school approaches to supporting pupil mental health.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the National Education Union, published on 15 April 2019, that SEND provision in England has had a £1.2bn shortfall in funding increases from Government since 2015.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
High needs funding has risen by £1 billion since 2013 to £6.3 billion this year. However, we recognise that local authorities and schools are continuing to face cost pressures. Funding levels for future years will be determined by the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that staff working in an education setting are trained in awareness of speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is investing £50 million to develop more high quality school-based nursery provision for disadvantaged children, £26 million to set up a network of English hubs, and £20 million to provide school-led professional development for early years practitioners.
The Department is reviewing the current special educational needs and disability (SEND) content in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provision and building on our existing SEND specialist qualifications to develop a continuum of career development from ITT, through teachers’ early careers and into specialist and leadership roles.
Since the introduction of the 2014 SEND reforms, the Department has provided funding to a range of condition-specific organisations to develop resources and training to deliver high quality teaching across all types of SEND. This includes specialist resources in relation to speech, language and communication skills.
The Department currently funding nasen and University College London, on behalf of the Whole School SEND consortium, to deliver a programme of work that will equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of special educational needs. New SEND regional leads will bring together practitioners and networks in their local area to build a Community of Practice, including local speech, language and communications champions.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference page of 32 of the Children’s Commissioner’s report, Keeping kids safe: Improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation, published in February 2019, what steps he is taking to increase access to speech and language therapy to improve rates of early intervention.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.
We know that 28% of children finish their reception year still without the early communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. That is why my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has set out his ambition to halve this figure by 2028 and we are investing over £100 million through our social mobility programme to support this.
However, we are aware of the concerns about the adequacy of funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England, including those with SLCN. That is why on 3 May 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced a call for evidence from schools, colleges and local authorities to consider how the SEND and alternative provision financial arrangements in England could be improved. The call for evidence can be accessed through the following link: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/funding-for-send-and-those-who-need-ap-call-for-ev/.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Pupil Referral Units (a) employ speech and language therapists or (b) have access to speech and language therapy services.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The 2015 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice sets out high expectations of schools, alternative provision, and colleges about how they identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND, including those with speech, language and communication needs. The Code emphasises that schools, including alternative provision, should work closely with their local authority and other providers to commission specialist services directly, such as speech and language therapists.
The department does not collect data on which pupil referral units employ speech and language therapists. Commissioners of alternative provision should ensure that there is a clear plan for pupils’ progression and keep the arrangements under regular review so that they can be adapted in response to the needs of the child or young person. Where an alternative provider has concerns that a child or young person may have a speech and language difficulty that is not being appropriately supported, then they should raise their concerns with the commissioner and agree how these potential needs will be assessed and supported.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to consult experts in speech, language and communication on the development of the early career framework for teachers' curricula and training materials.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has worked closely with the teaching profession to develop the early career framework (ECF). Teachers and academics with expertise in supporting special educational needs and disability (SEND) pupils were closely involved in the design of the ECF. The framework has at its centre approaches that support the needs of all pupils including those pupils with the four areas of need set out in the SEND Code of Practice
Drawing on the ECF, the Department’s intention is to procure the development of high-quality curricula and materials which can help schools to put in place effective support and training for the early career teachers. The Department will continue to engage the sector as plans develop to ensure the policy is delivered successfully.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2019 to Question 216909 on Children in Care: Health Services, what discussions the consortium of partners delivering the mental health assessment pilots for looked after children has had with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The consortium delivering the looked-after children mental health assessment pilots has communicated with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists about the setting up of the pilots. They will draw on the expertise of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists during the course of the pilots.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to respond to the letter to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families of 19 November 2018 on his speech to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speech and Language Difficulties on 23 October 2018.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
A response is being drafted and will be issued shortly.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures his Department plans to use to evaluate the effectiveness of its guidance entitled Improving the home learning environment, published on 14 November 2018.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
This publication sets out a behaviour change approach that will inform our work to improve the home learning environment, so that a greater proportion of children have the early language, communication and literacy skills they need to thrive. It brings together the latest evidence from research and draws on the experience of experts working with families every day.
The behaviour change model is a living document, which we intend to update as new evidence emerges and as practice develops.