Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support her Department is providing to teachers in response to the increased number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in early years settings.

The department recognises the increasing demand for support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in early years settings.

We are investing in workforce development through our Best Start in Life strategy and wider SEND reform, including additional funding for an inclusion practitioner in Best Start Family Hubs to support early identification of needs and enable families to navigate support systems, and delivering a new Early Years SEND continuing professional development (CPD) programme as part of the government’s £200 million SEND and inclusion training package, to ensure all early years practitioners can access high-quality training.

Alongside this, we are expanding the Early Years SENCO training programme, with up to 9,500 funded places between 2026 and 2028, to strengthen early identification and support.

Practitioners can also access Early Years Child Development training, a free online programme including a SEND‑focused module covering legislation, referrals and inclusive environments.

We are also investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop an Experts at Hand offer, improving access to health and education specialist support in early years settings, schools and colleges. Over £40 million is being invested in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million to support more speech and language therapists.