Pupil Roll Numbers and School Closures: London Debate
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Virendra Sharma
Main Page: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)Department Debates - View all Virendra Sharma's debates with the Department for Education
Pupil Roll Numbers and School Closures: London
Virendra Sharma Excerpts(11 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
Thank you, Mr Hollobone, for letting me follow my dear friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi), and for accepting my apology for having to go to another meeting, although I will come back.
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. We know that some mainstream primary schools are not as inclusive as they could be in admitting children with special educational needs and disabilities. I have been approached by many parents in my constituency who would like their children with special needs to go to a mainstream school. The surplus of places in many primary schools across London gives us an opportunity to identify ways of making them more inclusive to children with special educational needs and disabilities. We need to ensure that schools are appropriately funded to meet the needs of children with SEND. However, some children with SEND need provision that is best delivered by a special school. Given the shortage of local special schools in London, I hope the Minister will commit to support and fund local authorities so that they can expand local specialist provision where there is a clear need.