Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities training provided in Initial Teacher Training programmes; and what steps she is taking to improve that training.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we are committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers. The teachers’ standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the teachers’ standards, to be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status. Early career teachers (ECTs) are also assessed against the teachers’ standards in order to pass their statutory teacher induction.
The ITT core content framework and early career framework, for trainee and ECTs respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching. From September 2025, they will be superseded by the combined initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of ITT and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula.
The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new National Professional Qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to be relevant for trainees and ECTs. We have edited existing statements to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework including, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts with consensus that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.
The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the ITTECF and Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for trainees and ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) including training on (i) dyslexia and (ii) neurodiversity in mandatory Continuing Professional Development requirements for teachers and (b) requiring Ofsted to consider that training in school inspections.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions. The government is focusing on improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and is working with families and education and care experts to deliver this in the best interests of all children and to restore parents’ trust
The teachers’ standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the teachers’ standards, to be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status
The ITT core content framework (CCF) and early career framework (ECF), set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching and cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They will be superseded by the combined initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF) from September 2025.
The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and early career teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new National Professional Qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to be relevant for trainees and ECTs.
The ITTECF deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular additional needs but sets out what makes the most effective teaching for all pupils, including those with SEND. When reviewing the CCF and the ECF in 2023, the department tested this approach with SEND educational experts from the ITT sector and beyond, with consensus that the needs of most children can be met through high-quality teaching.
The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.
Beyond the ITTECF, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements. The ‘School teacher pay and conditions’ document, which applies to maintained schools, confirms that all teachers should have access to advice, training and developmental opportunities appropriate to their needs.
The focus of Ofsted inspections is on schools and how all the individuals within them work together to make sure that children receive the highest possible quality of education. The focus is not on inspecting the specific individuals that work in schools. Ofsted therefore does not require schools to provide any evidence of teachers’ professional development. However, as part of their leadership and management judgement, inspectors will consider whether continuing professional development for teachers and staff is aligned with the curriculum.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools will be able to refer demand for breakfast clubs to existing out-of-school clubs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to delivering free breakfast clubs across England. Schools can work with private, voluntary and independent providers such as existing out-of-school club providers to deliver this commitment.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to expand the statutory definition of Children Missing Education to include children with special educational needs not receiving adequate education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department conducted a call for evidence from 18 May to 20 July 2023 on ‘Improving support for children missing education’, to understand the sector’s current approach to identifying and supporting children missing education (CME). The department’s response was published in December 2024 and noted inconsistency in the application of the existing definition. We are cautious about adding further complication or making changes that would confuse clear obligations towards CME and children with SEND. The department therefore has no current plans to expand the definition of CME to include children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) not receiving adequate education.
The department recognises that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with SEND. Addressing these barriers requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.
This is why the department has published the ’Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance promotes a 'support-first' approach and provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, this guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.
The department is working closely with schools and local authorities to ensure that education settings are able to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND including announcing £1 billion investment in high needs at the Autumn Budget 2024, to help ensure all children can access the high quality education that should be their right.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) statutory requirements and (b) guidance exist for (i) local authorities and (ii) schools to prevent children with special education needs becoming Children Missing Education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Addressing these requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.
The department has published the ’Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which is statutory for both schools and local authorities. The guidance promotes a 'support-first' approach and sets out attendance expectations for schools, local authorities and parents. The guidance also provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, it requires schools, local authorities and wider services to work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.
For pupils registered at a special school, the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 outline that schools must not delete the names of children from the school roll unless they receive approval from the local authority who made the initial arrangements for their education.
The department has also published statutory guidance for local authorities on children missing education (CME). This guidance sets out key principles to enable local authorities in England to implement their legal duty to identify CME, as far as it is possible to do so, and get them back into education. The guidance outlines that local authorities should consider the reasons why children go missing from education, and the circumstances that can lead to this happening, when developing policies and procedures. Moreover, the guidance highlights that schools do have a safeguarding duty in respect of their pupils, and as part of this, should investigate any unexplained absences.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to mandate local authorities to collect information on special educational needs disaggregated by primary need.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the primary and secondary need of pupils in school with both an education, health and care (EHC) plan and who have special educational needs (SEN) support is collected via the school census.
The school census is a statutory return and collects information on school characteristics and pupil records three times a year. This includes information on the pupil’s SEN provision, whether they have an EHC plan or SEN support without an EHC plan and also what their primary and secondary need is.
This information is published each year as part of the statistical release ‘Special education needs in England’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2023-24.
Information is also collected from local authorities for all EHC plans maintained by the local authority, including those educated other than at school. SEN2 is also a statutory return and includes information on: requests for assessment for an EHC plan made to each local authority and the outcome of that request, the assessments for an EHC plan made by each local authority, and the outcome of that assessment as well as information on the EHC plans maintained by the authority.
This includes information on the primary and secondary SEN need for each child and young person with an EHC plan. This individual level SEN2 collection was introduced in 2022 and the department is currently developing the publication to include primary needs in 2025.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on recruiting 6,500 teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. The within-school and college factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s education is high-quality teaching, but this government inherited years of rising teacher vacancies and low recruitment resulting in shortages of qualified teachers across the country. This is why this government is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this parliament.
This government has already made good early progress towards this key pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession. We have accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, which is effective from September. The department has expanded its school teacher recruitment campaign, ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’ and the further education teacher recruitment campaign ‘Share your Skills’. The government has also reformed the school inspection system to remove Ofsted’s single headline grades.
This government has recently announced the Initial Teacher Training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, which is worth up to £233 million, a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a range of measures, including bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees into key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
This government wants to support retention alongside recruitment so that teachers stay and thrive in the profession. As of 14 October, eligible early career teachers in priority science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subjects can claim targeted retention incentive payments worth up to £6,000 after tax, with payments made available to college teachers in key STEM and technical subjects for the first time.
In addition, the department is supporting teachers to improve their workload and wellbeing and have a made a range of resources available to support teachers including the ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service and the ‘education staff wellbeing charter’. The department is also working with schools to increase opportunities for greater flexible working, for example we have clarified that teachers can undertake their planning, preparation and assessment time remotely.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help local authorities support kinship carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and the role of local authorities to support them.
The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as covering day to day costs, supporting them to settle into a new home with relatives, or affording activities to support their wellbeing, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This trial will help us make decisions about future national rollout.
The government recently published the updated guidance for local authorities, the kinship care statutory guidance. This guidance outlines the framework for the provision of support for kinship children and kinship families.
The government also appointed the first National Kinship Ambassador who will work alongside local authorities to help improve their kinship practice and local policies, and ensure they are following national guidance. As well as providing bespoke support to some local authority teams, they will share learning nationally so that more local authorities can benefit from evidence of best practice. In turn, this will help to improve outcomes for children and families.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that mainstream schools are (a) inclusive and (b) supportive of autistic pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve. This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources, regardless of whether they have a diagnosis. The department is strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings and have recently commissioned evidence reviews from Newcastle University and University College London on this point.
In November 2023, the department announced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme. PINS brings together Integrated Care Boards, local authorities and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers, to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and their families and enable an inclusive school environment. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces into 10% of mainstream primary school settings (around 1680 schools). PINS will build teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including those with speech and language needs, through whole-school interventions. The programme is being evaluated and the learning will inform future policy development around how schools support neurodiverse children.
The department also holds and funds the Universal SEND Services contract, which brings together SEND-specific continued professional development and offers support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. As part of the contract, the Autism Education Trust (AET) provides a range of training and support for staff on autism. Since the contract began in May 2022, over 185,000 professionals have received training from AET training partners.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of further education provision in Leigh constituency.
Answered by Anne Milton
The quality of further education (FE) provision is assessed by Ofsted under their published inspection framework. Currently the 3 major FE colleges in Wigan local authority area, including Leigh, are rated by Ofsted as Outstanding or Good for Overall Effectiveness.
In July 2015, the government announced a rolling programme of around 40 local area reviews, to be completed by March 2017, covering all FE colleges in England. The reviews were designed to ensure that colleges are financially stable into the long term, that they are run efficiently, and are well-positioned to meet the present and future needs of individual students and the demands of employers. In November 2016, the Greater Manchester Area Review report was published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greater-manchester-further-education-area-review-report. This review did not recommend the need for any significant structural changes for further education provision in the Wigan area.
The new ‘College Oversight: Support and Intervention’ document, which was published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-oversight-support-and-intervention on 1 April 2019, sets out how we will work with FE colleges to identify financial and quality issues early. It sets out the support and advice available to colleges when they need it from the FE Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), who assess financial and quality issues on an ongoing basis. This support includes the potential for FE Commissioner-led local provision reviews, the need for which may arise from a number of challenges that affect a college and/or further education provision in a local area, such as:
The ESFA works with local authorities where there are concerns about gaps in suitable and accessible local FE provision for young people. Local authorities have broad duties to encourage, enable and assist young people to participate in education or training, including to secure sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area who are over compulsory school age but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and for whom an Education, Health and Care plan is maintained, as set out at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training. A concern has not been formally raised to ESFA by Wigan local authority in respect of adequacy of further education provision in Leigh.
From August 2019, responsibility for the funding and adequacy of adult FE provision for residents in Wigan (including Leigh) will pass to Greater Manchester Combined Authority under devolution arrangements.