Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued on the (a) criteria and (b) number of students needed for a school to have a dedicated Special Educational Needs Coordinator position.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All mainstream schools, including academies and free schools, must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, working at the school.

SENCOs play a vital role in setting the direction for their school and leading on the day-to-day special educational needs and disabilities provision. SENCOs will be most effective in this role if they are part of the school’s leadership team.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ must be completed within three years of taking up a SENCO post. The NPQ ensures SENCOs receive high-quality, evidence-based training and equips them with the knowledge and skills to work with other leaders to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome, safe and they belong.

Schools should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions. This should include providing SENCOs with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within a school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that every school has a dedicated Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All mainstream schools, including academies and free schools, must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, working at the school.

SENCOs play a vital role in setting the direction for their school and leading on the day-to-day special educational needs and disabilities provision. SENCOs will be most effective in this role if they are part of the school’s leadership team.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ must be completed within three years of taking up a SENCO post. The NPQ ensures SENCOs receive high-quality, evidence-based training and equips them with the knowledge and skills to work with other leaders to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome, safe and they belong.

Schools should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions. This should include providing SENCOs with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within a school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including criteria for evaluating the inclusivity of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities provision in schools within Ofsted inspections.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Criteria for evaluating inclusivity in mainstream, special and alternative provision schools are a key part of the proposals set out in the consultation ‘Improving the way Ofsted inspects education’, which runs until 28 April 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the level of demand for SEND provision in schools to help support the transition of pupils with special educational needs from primary to secondary school.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Successful transitions must be well-planned. Poor support for and around transitions was a clear theme in the issues raised when the previous government consulted on the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision Green Paper of March 2022.

All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND prepare for and transition to adulthood as part of their local offer. This includes support to help children and young people move between phases of education, for example from early years to school, and from primary to secondary.

As set out in the SEND code of practice, for pupils with an education, health and care plan, the plan must be reviewed and amended in sufficient time prior to a child or young person moving between key phases of education, to allow for planning for and, where necessary, commissioning of support and provision at the new institution.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis of and (b) training for foetal alcohol spectrum disorders in schools.

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 foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

All teachers are teachers of pupils with SEND, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers. To support all teachers, we are implementing a range of high-quality teacher development programmes, from initial teacher training and into early career teaching, through to the reformed suite of leadership and specialist national professional qualifications, to ensure that teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed.

The revised Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, which all new entrants to the profession from September 2025 will benefit from, has been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND. Alongside this, the department funds SEND-specific continuing professional development, which provides resources to promote high-quality teaching for pupils with SEND.

Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and has published statutory guidance intended to help governing bodies meet their legal responsibilities. This guidance sets out the arrangements they will be expected to make, based on good practice. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and should have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.

​The government recognises that foetal alcohol spectrum disorder can have a significant impact on the early years development of children and on their life chances. As a result, schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person gets the special educational provision they need, this includes monitoring the progress of pupils regularly and putting support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of family hubs on early (a) intervention and (b) support for families and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In November 2023, the government published the ‘Evaluation of family hubs’ report, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-family-hubs. Five local authorities were involved in the project with all research activities delivered between January 2022 and January 2023. The evaluation paints a positive overall picture regarding outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of medical school places.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to training the staff we need, including doctors, to ensure that patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.

We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to build the transformed health service we will deliver over the next decade.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department has taken to help tackle empty shops on high streets.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Vacancy is a blight that we see too often in our towns.

We are supporting areas with new powers to help fill empty premises including High Street Rental Auctions and a new ‘right to buy’ to help prevent the loss of valued assets by bringing them into community ownership.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help recently graduated medical students to find employment in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Following completion of a medical degree, United Kingdom medical graduates must complete the Foundation Programme, a two-year work-based programme, to practise as a doctor in the National Health Service. We are committed to ensuring that the number of Foundation Programme places meets the demands of the NHS in the future.

The Government is committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the NHS. However, internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce.

In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to retain doctors trained in the UK in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to ensuring that doctors trained in the United Kingdom remain within the National Health Service through a structured, data-driven approach to workforce retention, and to improving the working conditions of all resident doctors, including trainee surgeons.

NHS England’s Enhancing Resident Doctors Working Lives programme continues to implement several measures aimed at supporting resident doctors, encouraging them to stay in training and the NHS, and reducing overall attrition. In addition, the NHS National Retention Programme is actively improving working conditions for trainee surgeons by enhancing workplace culture, promoting flexible training, and reducing burnout and attrition.

On 18 February 2025, the Chief Medical Officer and the National Medical Director of NHS England jointly launched a review of postgraduate medical training. The review will cover placement options, the flexibility of training, difficulties with rotas, control and autonomy in training, and the balance between developing specialist knowledge and gaining a broad range of skills.

Found: III: Melanie Onn, Jess Asato and Linsey Farnsworth. IV: Caroline Voaden.

Found: Liz Jarvis Susan Murray Lisa Smart Monica Harding Sarah Owen Ruth Jones Mary Kelly Foy Melanie Onn

Submit Evidence (by 8 Apr 2025)

The ability of the Government to make difficult decisions and to change the way in which energy is generated and used in the UK will depend on being able to bring the population along with them.

Submit Evidence (by 8 Apr 2025)

The previous Government published Civil Nuclear: Roadmap to 2050 in January 2024.