Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release of 11 March 2019, Thousands of places created in new special free schools, to which local authorities that £365 million funding has been allocated.

On 11 March 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced 37 new special and 2 alternative provision free schools, providing thousands of new school places for children with special educational needs or those facing additional challenges in mainstream education.

Separately, the Department’s special provision capital fund is allocated to local authorities to build new places and improve facilities for children with special educational needs and disabilities across a range of settings, including mainstream and special schools. This totals £365 million from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

Allocations can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-provision-capital-funding-for-pupils-with-ehc-plans.