Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Every child achieving and thriving White Paper, published 23 February 2026, what plans she has for the future funding of local authority sensory support teams.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will introduce a nationally consistent set of Specialist Provision Packages for children and young people with the most complex needs, including those children with sensory support needs. The packages will outline the specialist provision and workforce required to meet those needs consistently across the country.
A national cost framework for these packages will also be developed. Local authorities will be expected to commission placements in line with this framework, whether in specialist provision within mainstream settings, special or alternative provision schools, or other settings, including the independent sector.
As set out in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) consultation, the earliest potential implementation of Specialist Provision Packages is from September 2029. Proposals may continue to evolve following analysis of consultation responses and the legislative process. Any new funding arrangements will be subject to future legislation and policy decisions, and we would expect to engage stakeholders and consult on any new funding arrangements in due course.
Alongside this, the department is investing around £1.8 billion over three years for local area partnerships to develop an Experts at Hand offer, designed to help mainstream education settings meet the needs of children and young people with SEND more effectively and inclusively. This includes access to specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those based in specialist or alternative provision settings.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered exempting Non-Maintained Specialist Schools from proposed changes to charging and inclusion on approved school list, as set out in the Every child achieving and thriving White Paper, published 23 February 2026.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Non-maintained special schools are approved by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, under section 342 of the Education Act 1996 and provide specialist education for children and young people with special educational needs.
Non-maintained special schools are distinct from independent special schools.
The government intends for the proposed specialist provision packages national cost framework to apply to new state-funded education health and care placements in special schools. The government has separately set out proposals to ensure local authorities can pay a reasonable price for placements in independent special schools. Non-maintained special schools will not be in the scope of this measure.
The government’s consultation ‘Special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first’ has now closed. The department is carefully reviewing all responses alongside feedback received through over 200 engagement events held during the 12-week consultation period.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local authorities that provide upfront additional special educational needs and disabilities funding to mainstream schools will continue to be required to provide funding for specialist support services as set out in Chapter 8.1 of the High Needs Funding Operational Guidance.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will soon publish our response to the consultation on upfront special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) funding for mainstream schools, taking into full consideration the responses we have received.
The consultation has helped to inform the design of a test and learn approach to local authorities providing whole-school, upfront funding for mainstream schools. Upfront funding means mainstream schools receive a share of funding that would otherwise be distributed through top-up funding. From the outset of the consultation, we have been clear that participating local authorities would remain responsible for ensuring children with SEND can access specialist support, in line with section 8.1 of the High Needs Funding Operational Guidance.
The exercise aims to strengthen mainstream schools’ capacity to meet a wider range of needs. With consistent upfront funding, schools can plan early, flexible and responsive support for children with common barriers to learning. Children with more complex needs will continue to receive the specialist support and funding they need.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she provides to secondary schools on the identification of speech and language needs in children entering the school from primary education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
To ensure teachers can support children before needs escalate, we will develop National Inclusion Standards that set out evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with additional needs.
The department is also introducing the Experts at Hand offer, backed by around £1.8 billion, to give schools direct access to support, advice, training, and specialist expertise from professionals including speech and language therapists (SaLTs) and specialist teachers. These experts will work alongside school staff, building skills and confidence to identify needs early and respond effectively. New SaLT advanced practitioners will be responsible for bridging the gap between clinical and education settings, so that more SaLTs are specifically supporting children and young people. We are also investing in upskilling SaLT support workers, who can provide some of the more routine support in mainstream settings.
The department continues to invest in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, under the Best Start in Life strategy, which has demonstrated significant impact on oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Evaluation has found that children who receive NELI make, on average, four months of additional progress in oral language skills, and seven months for those children on free school meals. Funding has been confirmed until the 2028/29 academic year (subject to further spending rounds).
The government is also investing £200 million to give every teacher the training they need to better support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This new training offer will cover children with SEND in their earliest years through to age 25, restoring parents’ confidence that their children will be supported throughout every stage of their education. This new inclusion training offer builds on improvements to existing programmes, such as the new Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, which contains significantly more content on adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help protect children online.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Protecting children online is a top priority. The Online Safety Act brought in some of the strongest protections for children globally.
We have already taken steps to build on these by introducing new priority offences and tackling intimate image abuse and we have launched a landmark consultation on further measures to protect children online, including whether there should be a minimum age for social media, and restrictions to AI chatbots and gaming.
Finally, we are legislating to ensure we can act quickly on the findings of the consultation because no child should have to wait to experience a safe, fulfilling life online.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, what tools have been or are being assessed to deliver Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department has predominantly looked at text to British Sign Language translation tools, reviewing information from the main players in this field, Signapse, Robotica and Silence Speaks and engaging with our primary supplier for generative articifical intelligence, Microsoft.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025 to question 91075, how much has been spent on the display of (1) on-screen human interpreters and (2) artificial intelligence creations of British Sign Language at railway stations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department and its public bodies have not yet directly taken steps to develop or use artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to British Sign Language. However, as described in both our Transport artificial intelligence action plan - GOV.UK and our DfT science, innovation and technology plan 2025 - GOV.UK, the Department has used its First of a Kind funding programme to support innovative AI projects like Signapse Ltd’s mobile app that uses AI to turn timetable and station information into British Sign Language for deaf customers.
The Department’s Transport Research and Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme provides early‑stage funding for proof‑of‑concept transport innovations. To date, only one TRIG project has focused specifically on British Sign Language and passenger communications: the 2022 Luna Personal Sign Language Avatar Assistant, which developed a prototype enabling passengers to access wayfinding and journey information in BSL on their own devices. This project received a £30,000 grant from the Department.
The Department does not hold information on the amounts spent by train operating companies or other station operators on these systems. Network Rail have advised that they currently use pre‑recorded British Sign Language (BSL) videos rather than AI‑generated signing, following feedback from the Deaf community. Network Rail has also indicated that it has invested in providing BSL content in stations; however, the Department does not hold verified figures for this expenditure.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2025 to Question 91062, what projects involving the use of AI to create accessible content with regards to British Sign Language have been approved at what level of funding by (a) UK Research & Innovation, (b) Innovate UK, (c) British Technology Investments and (d) the Government Office for Science.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), including Innovate UK, has a portfolio of over £1 billion in AI research and innovation, with a further £1.6 billion allocated across 2026/27 to 2029/30. UKRI’s AI investments build broad, foundational technologies that could extend to BSL applications even when not explicitly stated.
Details of UKRI investments in AI technologies that could be used to create accessible content with regards to British Sign Language (BSL) can be found on GTR, which provides information on all UKRI-funded research and innovation projects. These include an £8.45m investment in SignGPT, which aims to build the first generative predictive transformer for sign language and has direct involvement from Deaf organisations and community partners.
There are currently no projects approved by British Technology Investments and the Government Office for Science.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, for what identified needs is she considering whether Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language might form a solution.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department is currently assessing what artificial intelligence tools have been developed in this space. Once we have assessed the landscape, we will reach out to relevant stakeholders to discuss whether the tools we have identified can solve those problems.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, what engagement she has undertaken with BSL signers regarding Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
We are currently researching the artificial intelligence tools that are available on the market and what they can provide for users. Once this research has concluded, we will engage with British Sign Language signers which will help inform next steps.