Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on School Funding: Provisional 2025-26 allocations, HCWS 264, what funding has been provided to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special and alternative provision in (i) Witham constituency, (ii) Essex and (iii) nationally to cover the costs of additional pupils entering the state sector from independent provision as a result of the introduction of VAT and business rate changes to independent schools.

The government announced at Budget a £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding increase includes funding for mainstream schools and high needs funding for complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Funding for mainstream schools will be distributed to schools following the existing funding formula, which includes consideration of pupil numbers and other characteristics. The funding allocations to local authorities for 2025/26 are calculated using the latest pupil numbers from the October 2024 census.

Local authorities are responsible for securing enough school places for children in their area. We provide capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.

Departmental Pupil Place Planning Advisors engage with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible. Where local authorities are failing in their duty, the government will intervene.