Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review proposals, whether it is his policy that multi-academy trusts will have the ability to use a proportion of SEND funding to cover operational costs.

All school’s core budgets include a notional budget for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), calculated by the school's local authority. These budgets give a non-binding indication to schools on how much of their funding they should consider spending on SEND provision.

Schools are responsible for managing their whole budgets to meet the needs of all their pupils, including those with SEND. Multi-academy trusts have the flexibility to manage budgets across all their academies, to ensure that they can fulfil their crucial role in promoting school improvement; that includes ensuring that all their pupils with SEND receive the education and support they need.

Where in future, as a result of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, there is any change to schools’ responsibilities in respect of children with SEND, we will consult upon and make appropriate adjustments to the funding system, to reflect those changes. The Green Paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are also currently consulting on changes that will need to be made to the funding system, including in respect of SEND, to deliver our plans that all mainstream schools are funded directly through the national funding formula.