SEND Funding

Lloyd Hatton Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)]

As many right hon. and hon. Members have outlined, there is no doubt that there is a crisis in our SEND system in this country—a crisis that we inherited from the previous Government. However, funding is still too low to keep pace with the rate at which children are being diagnosed with SEND, and many families and teachers are struggling to get the help that children desperately need and deserve. Unfortunately, families in my constituency of South Dorset experience the same. According to figures set out earlier this year, 18% of pupils in South Dorset receive SEND support, roughly 5% more than the national average. That is why I want to increase the number of SEND places in special school settings.

We have three state-funded special schools locally, Harbour school, Westfield college and Wyvern academy, whose staff do a truly brilliant job delivering specialised and individualised support for every child. However, following conversations with mums and dads at the school gate and teachers in the classroom, I am all too aware that, put simply, there are more SEND pupils across South Dorset, primarily based in mainstream schools, than there are special SEND places in special school settings.

[Warinder Juss]

In 2023, the Department for Education said that demand for special school places nationally outstripped available places by at least 4,000, so does my hon. Friend agree that we need more special school places?

[Lloyd Hatton]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend, and we really feel that in South Dorset. There are simply not the places needed to support every child with SEND. We urgently need the Government to move further, faster, to ensure that every child with SEND gets the education, and the school setting, that they deserve. I once again ask Ministers at the Department for Education to get the SEND school at the Osprey Quay site on Portland open—we waited for years for that to happen under the previous Government—and to finally rebuild the buildings at Dorset Studio school. If we can get those two projects over the line, we can really start to deal with the crisis in South Dorset.

Funding for a new SEND school was promised for so many years; that is what is most frustrating for parents in my constituency, particularly those living on Portland. In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, they were promised a solution that did not come, and once again we are waiting. Parents on Portland need that school on the Osprey Quay site opened as soon as possible.

Every child, no matter their educational needs, should have the opportunity to do their best, but they can do that only in the right school, with the right support. I know that this Labour Government recognise that reality, which is why I look forward to hearing from the Department for Education on the future of those two schools in my constituency, and to hearing a little more from the Minister at the end of this debate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lloyd Hatton Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I recognise the pressures that many institutions across our country face. The last Conservative Government regarded universities as a political battleground, not a public good. We face a big challenge in stabilising the finances of our universities, which is why we have refocused the Office for Students to ensure that it tackles much earlier the challenges that the hon. Lady describes. That is also why I took the difficult but necessary decision to increase tuition fees so that we have more revenue going into our universities.

[Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)]

T3. The previous Government failed to build much-needed new school buildings at Dorset studio school, and failed for years to open the proposed Osprey Quay special school for children with special educational needs. Dorset studio school urgently needs a new home, and families in my patch are hugely in need of a SEND school at the Osprey Quay site, so can the Minister outline what steps the Government are taking to get those two crucial projects over the line?

[Stephen Morgan]

The feasibility and project costs for those projects are currently being reviewed, and the relevant approvals will then be sought. I will ensure that my hon. Friend is kept up to date on progress. Ensuring that schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is key to our delivery of the opportunity mission and to give every child the best start in life.