Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of all the dates on which her Department’s SEND Development Group has met and the minutes of each of those meetings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Solihull East to the answer of 21 April 2026 to Question 104812.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the full list of members of her Department’s SEND Development Group and the criteria for membership.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Solihull East to the answer of 21 April 2026 to Question 104812.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the growth of EHCPs on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Families are having to fight and go through bureaucratic and legal processes to get special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support for their children despite funding increases to the high needs budget. These and other failures in the current system mean that families are rightly demanding reform and that is what the government is delivering. The plans for a reformed SEND system, including the allocation of £4 billion investment to support transformation of the system, were set out in the recently published Schools White Paper and SEND reform consultation, and annexes.
The department’s assessment of future SEND spending will be updated following the SEND consultation and subject to future spending reviews.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the terms of reference for her Department’s SEND Development Group.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Solihull East to the answer of 21 April 2026 to Question 104812.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how compliance with ISP duties will be enforced at school and local‑system level, and which body will hold ultimate enforcement responsibility.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Meriden and Solihull East to the answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 120023.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to publish the detailed national SEND standards and how compliance with those standards will be monitored and enforced across local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The National Inclusion Standards will set out evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches to identify and support children and young people with additional needs. Settings should consider the National Inclusion Standards when planning their Inclusion Strategy. To hold schools accountable for how they plan to deliver inclusive practice and meet the needs of their cohort, they will be required to produce an inclusion strategy outlining their plan to embed inclusive practice and meet the needs of their cohort. There will be a legal duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support. Ofsted will draw on settings’ inclusion strategies to assess effectiveness of leaders plans, implementing and delivering inclusive practice, and will consider the use and quality of ISPs in inspections. Local areas have been commissioned to develop local special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plans setting out how partners across education, health and care will deliver SEND reform locally.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will conduct an Impact Assessment of the SEND reforms on mainstream schools’ workload and resource requirements.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Impact assessments were published alongside the consultation to aid engagement during the consultation period.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will conduct an Impact Assessment of the SEND reforms on early years settings supporting children with additional needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Impact assessments were published alongside the consultation to aid engagement during the consultation period.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will conduct an Impact Assessment of the SEND reforms on transport obligations for children with SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has published equalities and children’s rights impact assessments alongside SEND reform: Putting Children and Young People First.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will conduct an Impact Assessment of the SEND reforms on children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Impact assessments were published alongside the consultation to aid engagement during the consultation period.