Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support young SEND people not in education, employment or training.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and develop the skills they need as they move into adult life.

The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings, as well as ensuring specialist settings cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need. To support this, the department has created an Expert Advisory Group for Inclusion, led by Tom Rees, to advise on how to drive inclusive education practice.

Local authorities must provide to all young people aged 13 to 19, and to those between 20 and 25 with special educational needs, support it considers appropriate to encourage, enable or assist them to effectively participate in education or training. Local authorities are required to collect information about young people so that those not participating can be identified and given support to re-engage. Alongside this, there is also a guaranteed place in education and training for all 16 and 17-year-olds, expanded work experience and careers advice, action to tackle school attendance, and improved access to mental health services for young people in England. The department is working to further support all local authorities to identify and help young people at an increased risk of becoming not in education, employment or training, based on identifying risk factors such as a learning difficulty, disability or poor school attendance. This includes publishing good practice guidance and developing a new data tool for local authorities.

Through our new ‘Youth Guarantee’, this government will ensure that every young person aged 18 to 21 that needs it, is supported in accessing further learning or receives help to get a job or an apprenticeship. This guarantee will bring together and enhance provision and support for young people by offering them tailored support that will help them into further learning or fulfilling work. This will provide support for young people with SEND who may be particularly at risk of not being in education, employment or training. To respond to this challenge, this government will launch trailblazers in eight mayoral combined authorities starting from April 2025, with £45 million of funding being invested in 2025/26 to design and develop the guarantee.

Furthermore, as part of our commitment to helping children and young people with SEND to develop the skills they need as they move into adult life, the department is investing up to £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in supported internships. The department aims to double the number of internships each year to around 4,500, to support more young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans to gain the skills to transition into employment. The department is also running a pilot in 12 local authorities to test supported internships with young people with SEND but no EHC plan who are furthest from the labour market.