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 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.

In England, there are over 11,100 schools, two thirds of English state primaries, that have received funding to deliver the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme. In the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency there are 42 state primary schools with a reception class. 25 of these schools are registered to deliver the NELI programme. Details of all registered schools for this programme are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neli-nuffield-early-language-intervention-programme.

The department recognises the vital role of parents and the home learning environment in children's early development and their contribution to the government’s mission to improve opportunity and give all children the best start in life. The department continues to support family hubs delivering services to help parents create rich home learning environments. The department's Little Moments Together campaign aims to encourage and provide resources for parents to chat, play and read with their children. The department is reviewing future support for parents within the current spending review process.

This year government is investing £255 million in the Supporting Families Programme, which since 2012 has championed early intervention and helped over 800,000 families achieve successful outcomes.

In addition, through the £45 million families first for children pathfinder and family networks pilot, the department is testing whole-system reform to children’s social care in 10 local authorities to help families overcome challenges, stay together and thrive, and to keep children safe. This includes testing a new model of Family Help, building on best practice from well-evidenced programmes, such as Supporting Families.

The department is working closely with pathfinder local authority areas and their partners including health, police, education, the voluntary and community sector and local children and families. The department will share learning from the programme with the wider sector and partners as the programme progresses including through an independent evaluation. Initial evaluation findings are expected in spring 2025.

.

The department knows that parents have struggled to get the right support for their children, particularly through long and difficult education, health and care (EHC) plan processes and is planning to work across the sector to provide support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), those needing alternative provision (AP), and their families. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and AP settings, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

The department wants to ensure that EHC plan applications are processed promptly and, where required, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need. The department publishes annual data from the SEN2 survey in relation to every EHC plan maintained by individual local authorities and closely monitors and uses the information from the annual SEN2 data collection to inform discussions with local areas. Where a council does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. The department offers a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through department-managed programmes, such as the sector-led improvement partners which provide peer-to-peer tailored support.

The local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for Suffolk local area partnership in November 2023 found widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.

The local area partnership submitted a priority action plan to Ofsted and the CQC to address the areas for priority action, including actions to improve EHC plan timeliness, with progress monitored by the department through deep dive and stocktake meetings.

An expert SEND advisor has been commissioned by the department to support the improvement work being undertaken by the partnership, including improving EHC plan timeliness, by providing advice, guidance and challenge alongside the Regional NHS England SEND Manager.

Ofsted and the CQC introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023, leading to a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.

Educational psychologists play a critical role providing support to children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). However, the department knows that current workforce shortages are a barrier to delivering its ambitions for an inclusive mainstream education system. 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 majority of the funding provided through the Local Government Funding Settlement is un-ringfenced, in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, including investment in educational psychology services.

The department is taking measures to support the flow of educational psychologists into local authority services by investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from this year. This builds on the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.

The department is taking time to consider the various funding formulae that both it and local authorities use to allocate funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It is important that there is a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed.

Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not yet been set, which means that decisions on the high needs and schools national funding formulae, as well as the publication of allocations for that year, are not to the usual timescales. The department will publish information as soon as possible after the Budget announcement on 30 October.

The department recognises that some parents have struggled to get the right support for their children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), particularly through long and difficult Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan processes.

The department wants to ensure that EHC plan applications are processed promptly and, where required, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need. We are listening to a wide range of people, such as children and young people, parents, schools, colleges and local authorities and their partners. We are reflecting on what practices could be made consistent nationally.

Under the Children and Families Act (2014) it is a legal requirement that all local authorities have a Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS), to ensure families are provided with the support necessary to enable them to participate in discussions and decisions about their support, such as through their Education, Health and Care plan, and strategically, such as through SEND local offers.

The department funds training and support for SENDIASS services through a contract with specialist charities which support parents and carers of children with SEND. This contract is led by Contact, a national charity who support families with SEND. In addition, Contact also runs a national telephone helpline which offers impartial support and advice on SEND.

The department also provides grant funding to Parent Carer Forums throughout England who provide a supportive forum for parents. They work alongside local authorities, education, health and other service providers to ensure that the services they plan, commission, deliver and monitor meet the needs of children and families locally.

This government is committed to taking a community-wide approach and to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. The Change Programme, which was established in September 2023 following the publication of the Special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan, is providing valuable learning across the SEND and AP system, including by informing thinking about effective, inclusive mainstream practice.

This government recognises that the SEND system is not meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND. Addressing its problems will be a priority for this government.

The government cannot do this alone. It will work with the sector as essential and valued partners to ensure its approach is fully planned and delivered together with parents, schools, councils and expert staff who go above and beyond to support children.

The Government has allocated a record £11.8bn to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. This is being invested in a range of grants and schemes to support farmers, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, Landscape Recovery, and ELM capital grants. There are now over 44,500 multi-year live SFI agreements.

Defra expects to open the first SFI26 application window from 30 June. This window will be for small farms and farms without environmental land management revenue agreements, so as many farmers as possible can benefit from agreements.

As of 11 March 2025, there were 147 farm businesses in the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency holding a live Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement.

The average annual payment value per agreement in that constituency was £27,431.