Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a timeframe for the implementation of proposals in the SEND review, including those proposals in respect of equitable funding across the country for young children and young people in special schools and other specialist provision; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that funding is sufficient to implement those proposals from the date that they are introduced.

The department is currently consulting on proposals in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, including those on funding. The consultation will close on 22 July 2022. The department will publish a response to the consultation and set out plans for delivery later in the year.

The government continues to deliver year-on-year, real terms per pupil increases to the core schools budget with a £7 billion increase in funding by the 2024/25 financial year, compared with the 2021/22 financial year. This takes total funding to £56.8 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. As a result, the department was able to announce last December that high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing in the 2022/23 financial year by £1 billion to a total of £9.1 billion.

Funding will continue to increase in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. Funding for the 2025/26 financial year onwards is subject to the next Spending Review.

Alongside annual allocations of funding for SEND provision, the department will support the delivery of reforms through a £70 million SEND and AP change programme. This is both to test and refine key changes, and to help local systems manage the necessary improvements.