Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources his Department is providing Stockport Council to support their delivery of SEND provision in local authority-maintained schools.

The department is committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in all areas receive the support they need to realise their potential.

Following an area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in 2018, Stockport was required to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSOA) to address five areas of significant weakness. Since then, the department has provided regular support and challenge to bring about improvements including through its expert SEND and NHS England advisors. Stockport is also one of the 55 local areas which have been invited to join the government’s £85 million Delivering Better Value programme to support local areas to achieve maximum value for money in delivering SEND provision, whilst maintaining and improving the outcomes they achieve. Further information on this programme can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-outcomes-for-citizens-practical-steps-for-unlocking-public-value.

High needs funding, specifically for supporting children with more complex SEND, will increase by £1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, bringing the overall total funding to £9.1 billion. SEND provision is funded through a combination of mainstream schools’ core funding and the high needs funding, both allocated to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Authorities have discretion in how this funding is allocated, subject to regulations and conditions of the grant. In the 2022/23 financial year, mainstream schools in Stockport are attracting £210.5 million and the local authority is receiving £42.8 million for high needs, with the latter representing a 12.7% per head increase compared to the authority’s 2021/22 financial year high needs funding allocation.

The department is also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision and will help deliver tens of thousands of new places.