Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 126832 on Special Educational Needs: Greater London, if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on the number of (a) Teachers of the Deaf and (b) Teachers for the Visually Impaired working in state-funded schools in England in order to aid workforce planning.

The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including sensory impairment, receive the support needed to succeed in their education.

The department does not collect data on the number of sensory impairment qualified teachers working in state-funded schools. Local authorities in England are required to publish information on the availability of specialist services, and the support commissioned and provided for children and young people with SEND, including sensory impairment, in a local offer. To ensure local needs are met, they must work with children, young people and their families to develop this.

New national SEND and alternative provision (AP) standards were proposed in the SEND and AP Green Paper. These standards aim to make consistent the provision that should be made available across the country for every child and young person with SEND, including those with sensory impairments, acting as a common point of reference for every person in the SEND and AP system. They are intended to set out the full range of appropriate types of support and placements for meeting different needs. New local SEND and AP partnerships will carry out a comprehensive assessment of all types of need and existing provision across their local area and co-produce a Local Inclusion Plan with parents and carers that sets out how that need will be met, which will inform the local offer.