Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 guidance and regulations for mainstream schools, what sources of funding and support are available for (a) shielding children, (b) vulnerable children and (c) children with hearing impairments and their parents who are homeschooling.

We are continuing to provide local authorities with their high needs funding allocations, which provide for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with hearing impairments. These allocations include an additional £730 million in the 2021-22 financial year, on top of the additional £780 million we provided in the 2020-21 financial year. In the 2021-22 financial year, Slough will receive £28.3 million of high needs funding, an 8% increase per head of the 2-18 population compared to the 2020-21 financial year.

Last year, we announced an additional package worth £1 billion to ensure that schools have the resources they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time, with extra support for those who need it most. £650 million will be spent on ensuring all pupils have the chance to catch up and supporting schools to rise to the challenge. Each mainstream school will receive £80 per place, and each special, alternative provision and hospital school will receive £240 for each place, across the 2020/21 academic year. We have applied this additional weighting to specialist settings in recognition of the significantly higher per-pupil costs they face.

Where pupils are not in school, we expect schools to provide suitable remote learning materials, consistent with the Children and Families Act 2014. Schools and other institutions must use their best endeavours to secure the provision called for by the pupil’s or student’s needs.

Our published guidance is clear that schools should work collaboratively with families, putting in place reasonable adjustments as necessary, so that pupils with SEND, which will include those with hearing impairment, can successfully access remote education alongside their peers.