Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in mainstream settings and (b) develop new specialist provision for children with SEND in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), or who are in alternative provision, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. This government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need. This government wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources. We will listen to and work with families and sector partners to fix this, which includes taking wider opportunities on accountability, the curriculum, workforce and more.

The department will strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive, including through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise, and encourage schools to set up Resourced Provision or special educational needs (SEN) units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are part of the most recent competition to find trusts for 18 additional special schools that was launched by the previous government. The window for trusts to apply has now closed. The department is working through the next steps and will provide an update in due course.

The department also continues to work very closely with the local authority and trust leaders on proposals to establish and expand high quality resource bases and SEN unit provision.