Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve support for children with cerebral palsy in education settings.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for all children and young people, including those with cerebral palsy, to ensure they receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department will be improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and colleges, as well as ensuring special settings cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need. This includes strengthening accountability for inclusivity, including through Ofsted, and encouraging schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.

High-quality teaching in schools is central to ensuring that all pupils are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. The department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers over the course of this Parliament. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with cerebral palsy.

The department is providing almost £1 billion more for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9 billion. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND. The department has also announced £740 million of high needs capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to invest in places for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision.

The department has also introduced a new mandatory leadership level qualification to enhance the training of special educational needs co-ordinators in mainstream schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the child poverty strategy will include specific measures to help tackle child poverty amongst (a) disabled and (b) other groups that are most affected.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The Child Poverty Taskforce, of which my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is Co-Chair, is considering all children across the United Kingdom as it develops the child poverty strategy. We recognise different groups of children, including disabled children, have distinct challenges. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions that go beyond government, and the Taskforce is exploring all available levers in response.

The strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. The terms of reference for the Child Poverty Taskforce were published on 14 August 2024 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-taskforce-terms-of-reference.