Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for SEND services in schools.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that there are sufficient school places for all pupils in a local area in mainstream schools and settings for pupils with high needs including special schools and alternative provision (AP).

The department works closely with Portsmouth City Council and Multi Academy Trusts in the area to ensure high-quality provision. In Portsmouth there are five special schools. Of these schools three are rated as outstanding by Ofsted, one is a new school yet to be inspected and one is inadequate, and the department is working with the trust to secure rapid improvement. Several mainstream schools in the city also provide education to children with special educational needs through special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) units and resourced provision.

The last local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission for Portsmouth was in July 2019, and the inspection found that professionals across Education, Health, and Care work well in a joined-up way to promote inclusive practice.

Last year the department published the SEND and AP Improvement Plan. This set out the department's plans to establish a new national SEND and AP system that delivers timely, high-quality services and support in mainstream settings, alongside swift access to more local state specialist settings, where required.

The department is investing £2.6 billion since 2022 to deliver new specialist and AP places and improve existing provision. Together with ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools, this funding supports local authorities to deliver over 60,000 new specialist places and improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.

The department is also increasing high needs revenue funding for children and young people with complex needs to over £10.5 billion this financial year 2024/25 (up 60% over the last five years). Within this total Portsmouth City Council will receive a high needs allocation of over £37 million, which is a cumulative increase of 36% per head over the three years from 2021/22. The extra revenue funding will help with the increasing costs of supporting SEND provision in schools.