Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her proposals for SEND reform, if she will give assurance to adopters and special guardians that their children, a majority of whom require active in-school additional support, which is currently funded through a patchwork of Pupil Premium Plus at school level and by individual EHCPs, will have their particular needs taken account of in her Department’s decisions on this issue.

As part of our reforms, we will ensure children get the right support in their early years setting, school, and college. We will do this by investing in new training for all staff, early intervention, better buildings and equipment, and making sure that every setting has access to expert professional support when it is needed.

The department's consultation ‘Adoption support that works for all’ sets out a vision for more predictable, joined up support for adoptive and kinship children, including stronger multi-disciplinary work across social care, health and education. The consultation runs until 5 May 2026 and the outcomes and next steps will be published later this year. For adoptive special guardianship children, this forms an important backdrop to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) proposals. More details on the consultation are available here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/adoption-and-special-guardianship-support-fund-team/adoption-support-that-works-for-all/supporting_documents/adoption-support-that-works-for-all-consultation-document-feb-2026pdf.

Alongside this, Individual Support Plans will be developed by settings, parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support a clear and consistent record of their needs. This will be backed by £1.6billion funding flowing directly to schools, colleges and nurseries to meet needs earlier and get support in place, as part of the £4 billion more we are investing over three years.

We also want families’ voices and experiences to shape SEND policy and local delivery, ensuring families can influence decision-making around the support they receive. Nationally we will improve access to services by increasing investment in the national helpline. Additionally, we will continue to work with and expand parent carers in strategic partnership roles to support system-wide improvements.

We are consulting on the reforms proposed in the recently published “SEND reform: putting children and young people first”, and you can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.