Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to allow local authorities to influence inclusivity guidelines for schools under their jurisdiction.

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. The department is committed to improving expertise and enabling high-quality and inclusive practice in mainstream schools. This work forms part of the government’s Opportunity Mission, which will break the unfair link between background and opportunity, starting with giving every child, including those with SEND, the best start in life.

This includes building a robust and credible evidence base on what works to drive inclusive education. To support this, an expert advisory group for inclusion has been established, led by Tom Rees, that consist of experts across the SEND sector. This group will advise Ministers on how to drive inclusive practice across the whole system and improve mainstream education outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND. Members of the group will use their collective expertise to ensure children and young people are effectively supported to achieve and thrive.

To support the department's ambition to strengthen the evidence base on inclusive practice, we have commissioned evidence reviews to identify the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs.

The department will also work with Ofsted to strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise and encourage local authorities and schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.