Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of transferring responsibility for the commissioning and full funding of alternative provision placements for children with special needs from schools to local authorities.

Local authorities are currently responsible for the commissioning and funding of all alternative provision in their area under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.

Schools can use their own budgets to place children in alternative provision or another school through an off-site direction, or provide education from the sixth day (or earlier) of a suspension for any child of compulsory school age.

In February, the department launched its SEND reform consultation. This reform sets out a clear vision for alternative provision and the key roles it will fulfil in mainstream settings and the specialist sector to support children and young people with complex and additional needs. We will publish our response to the consultation in due course.