Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle funding gaps for statutory SEND duties in Hertfordshire.

The department is providing schools with extra funding of almost £1.1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, to support schools with overall costs, including the costs of supporting their pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Following the Budget, schools funding will be increased by a further £2.3 billion in 2025/26. Of this overall increase, nearly £1 billion is for children and young people with complex needs and will bring high needs funding to a total of £11.9 billion next year. As overall funding for the 2025/26 financial year has been announced later than normal, allocations calculated through the high needs and schools national funding formulae have not been published to the usual timescales. We will publish further information as soon as possible.