Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled £740 million allocated for 10,000 new places for pupils with SEND, published on 27 March 2025, how many new SEND places will be created in Norfolk.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision, sits with local authorities.
The department has now published allocations for £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.
Norfolk County Council has been allocated just over £13 million for 2025/26 and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support early years childcare providers with their funding arrangements.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has been clear in our commitment to the early years. It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver the entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, this government has increased investment in the early years to drive forward progress towards our Plan for Change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn. This government will continue to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require.
The department is also providing £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance Contributions Grant for public sector employers in the early years.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the financial stability of the higher education sector in (a) Norfolk and (b) nationally.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The financial position of individual higher education (HE) providers is highly commercially sensitive. As such, it would be inappropriate to comment on the financial stability of HE providers in any individual local authority area.
The department recognises that the financial environment of the HE sector is challenging. The Office for Students’ (OfS) update on the financial sustainability of the HE sector, published 15 November, states that up to 72% of HE providers could face a deficit in 2025/26 if they do not take mitigating action. The OfS has rightly affirmed that HE providers must take bold action to secure their long term sustainability. As autonomous bodies independent of government, it is for providers to decide on effective business models and to how to manage their finances.
However, in recognition of this challenging financial environment, this government has taken action to support the sector. The government has acted decisively to accept in full the recommendations of the independent review of the OfS undertaken by Sir David Behan. Sir David has been appointed as interim OfS Chair to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including the HE sector’s financial stability. The department continues to work closely with the OfS to monitor any risks and to ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them.
Moreover, the government has made the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation. As a result, the maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. The government also recognises the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on students. Maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £10,227 to £10,544 for an undergraduate student living away from home and studying outside London. Longer term funding plans for the HE sector will be set out in due course.
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education set out in her oral statement on 4 November, this government will secure the future of HE so that students can benefit from a world class education for generations to come.