Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving support for Service children with special educational needs and disabilities.

I have engaged with Department for Education (DfE) Ministers, including my hon. Friend, the Minister for Early Years Education (Olivia Bailey). We have discussed SEND support for children from Armed Forces Families and how the launch of the DfE’s Best Start Family Hub (BSFH) programme has specific reference to Armed Forces families. One of the key areas of delivery provided by the BSFH will be early intervention support for families with children (0-five years old) with SEND and offer SEND support for children and young people up to the age of 25.

Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials have collaborated with the DfE leading up to the launch of the Best Start Family Hub (BSFH) programme, resulting in the BSFH guidance for local authorities including specific reference to supporting Armed Forces Families. The MOD have also been working with the Local Government Association, who have been commissioned to deliver the BSFH toolkits for the local authorities to base their delivery around.