Patrick Spencer

It is the responsibility of the developers of electricity network projects, in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission, to propose a route and obtain planning permission for that route including assessment of any agricultural impacts. The Government sets the rules for a robust and independent planning process that communities participate in.

The Government cannot comment on specific projects which will come before the Secretary of State for a final decision. Depending on the specifics of each case, network operators are required to have an agreement with landowners impacted by transmission infrastructure projects on their land, including payment of appropriate compensation.

It is the responsibility of the developers of electricity network projects – in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission - to propose a route and obtain planning permission for that route. The government sets the rules for a robust and independent planning process that communities can participate in, with consultation being a central element of the planning process. Any engagement by Ministers must consider the role of the Secretary of State in deciding on planning applications for energy projects, and the limitations on discussing live projects in the development process which have not come to the Planning Inspectorate.

The Government cannot comment on specific projects which will come before the Secretary of State for a final planning decision. All projects, regardless of location, must go through the independent and robust planning process.

We are committed to ensuring that communities who live near new transmission infrastructure can see the benefits of it and are considering how to most effectively deliver this. Community benefits are different to compensation. Depending on the specifics of each case, network operators must have an agreement with landowners impacted by the presence of transmission infrastructure projects on their land, which includes payment of appropriate compensation.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The department wants to ensure that key stage 4 performance measures, including Progress 8 and Attainment 8, support the new technical pathways and encourage schools to play their part in delivering valuable opportunities for young people. In due course, we will set out proposals on how schools are measured to incentivise a broader offer and reward inclusion, underpinned by progress in English, maths and science.

The government is committed to ensuring that young people can access high-quality technical education wherever they live.

We will work with schools, colleges, employers and Mayoral Strategic Authorities to design locally tailored vocational pathways from age 14, improving awareness of technical routes and supporting skills linked to local and national labour market needs.

V levels, T Levels and new level 2 pathways will be available across England. For T Levels, the industry placement delivery framework supports providers and employers to offer high-quality placements regardless of sector or locality.

The department is also working with further education providers, local partners and employers to strengthen the infrastructure, workforce and capacity needed to deliver excellent technical education, so learners in every region can access the facilities, expertise and opportunities they need to succeed.

The department is still at an early stage of developing the new technical education pathways. Our ambition is to give every young person access to high-quality technical education pathways from age 14 and support progression into further study, training and skilled employment. We will work with the Mayoral and Strategic Authorities and local leaders to design locally tailored, vocationally focussed pathways for each region to begin rolling them out from September 2028. We will work closely with Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges and employers to understand the implications of the proposals for staffing, facilities and infrastructure.

The department will work closely with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, local leaders, schools, colleges and employers to understand the implications for staffing, facilities and infrastructure of the new technical education pathways.

Responsibility for post-16 transport rests with local authorities, which must publish an annual transport policy statement setting out the arrangements they consider necessary to support young people to access education and training.

The introduction of new technical education pathways does not in itself require changes to post-16 transport policy. Decisions on local transport support, including in rural areas such as Suffolk, remain a matter for local authorities, who are encouraged to work with transport providers, employers and training providers in their local area to support participation.

The department is at an early stage of developing the new technical education pathways. Our ambition is to give every young person access to high-quality technical education pathways from age 14 and support progression into further study, training and skilled employment. We will work with the Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local leaders to design locally tailored, vocationally focussed pathways for each region and begin rolling them out in some areas from September 2028. The department will consider how its existing budgets can best support schools, colleges and local authorities to implement the technical education pathways from age 14.

The department is at an early stage of developing the new technical education pathways. Our ambition is to give every young person access to high-quality technical education pathways from age 14 and support progression into further study, training and skilled employment. As part of these pathways, we will work with Ofqual and other key partners to develop high-quality vocational and technical qualifications which give clear routes into T Levels, the new V levels, apprenticeships, universities and beyond.

The department will work with Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local leaders to design locally tailored, vocationally focussed pathways for each region and begin rolling them out in some areas from September 2028. To inform development of this policy, we will consider existing national and international approaches to technical education pathways.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities.

The department is supporting local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with SEND by investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/26 and 2029/30.

In the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years, Suffolk has been allocated just over £9.4 million and just over £9.4 million respectively through High Needs Provision Capital Allocations.

This funding is expected to fund a transformative expansion of inclusion bases, as well as adaptations to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of mainstream settings. It can also be used to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

We are also developing Specialist Provision Packages which will set out nationally consistent, evidence-based provision offers covering the full range of provision required by children at the specialist tier. Local authorities will be under a duty to forecast demand for the packages and commission sufficient placements to meet local need.

I refer the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich to the answer of 06 May 2025 to Question 46839.

The department responded to this freedom of information request on 7 May 2025.

Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) is a pilot ‘test and learn’ programme being delivered across nine pathfinder sites, one in each English region, covering 12 local authorities. Central Suffolk and North Ipswich are not part of the pilot programme.

According to the programme’s reporting data, therapy support teams have helped 13,000 children so far, and just over 1000 setting staff have been upskilled in delivering interventions. The interim programme evaluation is allowing the department to explore insights into the effectiveness of ELSEC delivery at a local level. A final evaluation will take place following the end of the summer term 2025.

Early language skills are vital to enable children to thrive in the early years and later in life, including for all aspects of later attainment in school. That is why in July 2024, this government announced that funded support for the Nuffield Early Learning Intervention (NELI) programme would continue for the 2024/25 academic year.

To date the department has invested over £20 million in the NELI programme, which supports reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

In randomised control trial evaluations of the programme at scale, when supported by departmental funding, NELI was proven to help children make, on average, an additional four months progress, or seven months for those eligible for free school meals.

The implementation cost of the NELI programme has been rated as ‘very low’ by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), when compared to other programmes that EEF have evaluated. It is estimated since 2020 that 650,000 children have had their language screened nationally from the investment in the NELI programme nationally.

Based on the £20 million investment, the cost to the department works out, on average, to be as little as £31 per child. EEF’s findings in relation to the NELI programme is available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/promising-programmes/nuffield-early-language-intervention.

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) is a cross-government programme, backed by £13 million of investment, delivered through collaboration between the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. PINS brings together integrated care boards (ICBs) local authorities and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodivergent children and their families.

The programme which began under the previous government deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to strengthen training for teachers and upskill around 1,600 mainstream primary schools, which equates to approximately 10% of the total number of mainstream primary schools in England. Building teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodivergent children provides the opportunity to enhance support and improve outcomes for all children in this whole-school approach. As the programme takes this whole-school approach and the benefits support all children, the department would therefore not be able to indicate a specific cost per child.

The department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the PINS programme. This has been designed to look at the implementation of the programme in primary schools and explore the impact on primary schools’ ability to better support neurodiverse pupils. The evaluation includes exploring attainment, and it covers all ICB areas currently participating in the programme.

Schools, including further education colleges, sixth form colleges and 16 to 19 academies, are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need. All schools should apply the ‘graduated approach’ that is outlined in the special educational needs and disabilities code of practice, which means identifying a child’s needs, planning appropriate support, implementing that support and reviewing it regularly to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils.

The department is working as quickly as possible to ensure every child has the best chance in life, by prioritising early intervention and inclusive provision in mainstream settings. We know that early intervention prevents unmet needs from escalating, and that it supports children and young people to achieve their goals alongside their peers. Getting it right in the early years is essential to supporting children’s development, health and life chances. We are currently funding three specific early intervention programmes: the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme, the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders and the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme.