Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Multi-Sensory Impairment fund with £34.3 million ring-fenced funding available to local authorities in England to increase the number of Multi-Sensory Impairment teachers.

The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with multi-sensory impairments, receive the support they need to succeed in their early years, at school and at college.

High needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, including those with multi-sensory impairment, will be rising to £10.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations. This extra funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.

The department has no current plans to create a new and separate funding stream specifically for the education of children with multi-sensory impairment. Local authorities and schools have responsibilities for supporting all children and young people with SEND under the Children and Families Act 2014, including those with multi-sensory impairment. They are best placed to decide how to prioritise their spending on the range of resources and activities that will best support them.