Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding her Department has allocated for special educational needs provision by Suffolk County Council following the Autumn Budget 2024.

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

Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Suffolk County Council is being allocated over £124 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.3 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is a 9% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

As also announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is receiving compensation in recognition of the increase in National Insurance contributions paid by schools and other state-funded SEND provision. That funding is additional to the £1 billion increase in high needs funding. Due to timing constraints, it will be provided as a separate grant, alongside the 2025/26 DSG for local authorities. The department will provide further information on the allocations as soon as possible.