Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on the provision of special educational needs and disability in schools; and whether that guidance covers dyslexia.

The Children and Families Act 2014 sets out the statutory framework for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which places a number of duties on local authorities and others. Guidance is provided in the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice. This is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25 and is supported by a range of other guidance and information available online both via GOV.UK and on the National Association for Special Educational Needs (Nasen) SEND gateway (https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/).

The government takes the support for children and young people with dyslexia seriously. I recently spoke at a global summit on dyslexia attended by more than 200 people, including industry bodies and organisations, educationalists and over 35 overseas foundations and governments who support dyslexia.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, the department provided £500,000 to the British Dyslexia Association, in partnership with Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties, the Dyspraxia Foundation and Manchester Metropolitan University, to provide support for children and young people with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties. This builds on work with dyslexia organisations the government funded in 2013-15 and 2015-16 to facilitate better support for children with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties

This year we are funding Nasen and University College London, on behalf of the Whole School SEND consortium which includes the British Dyslexia Association, to embed SEND into school improvement practice and equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of special educational needs (SEN). New SEND regional leads will bring together practitioners and networks in their local area to build a community of practice, help identify regional SEN school improvement priorities and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise.