Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take legislative steps to make it a statutory requirement for Local Authorities to provide wraparound childcare provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all children and young people, ensuring they have access to the brilliant education and care they need to achieve and thrive. This includes ensuring that wraparound care is available and accessible. The government is improving access to before and after school care through the National Wraparound Childcare Programme.
The programme is being delivered through local authorities, given their existing sufficiency duty. The Childcare Act 2006 places a legal duty on local authorities to make sure that there are enough childcare places within its locality for working parents or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0 to 14, or up to 18 for disabled children. All local authorities should be able to demonstrate how they have discharged this duty and should include specific reference to how they are ensuring there is sufficient childcare to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as per the statutory guidance. This should be available from the local authority.
The department has also taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, every state-funded school in England with primary aged pupils will offer a breakfast club. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a breakfast club programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with SEND.
On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state-funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from April 2025. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout, this will include testing approaches to supporting children with SEND.
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 is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.