Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding Lancashire County Council will receive through the High Needs Stability Grant for 2026-27.

The government is committed to supporting local authorities with their Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits as we transition to a reformed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. The High Needs Stability Grant marks the largest ever government intervention on council SEND deficits, covering 90% of local authorities' DSG deficits accrued to the end of March 2026, in a package worth around £6 billion nationally.

Each local authority’s High Needs Stability Grant allocation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-stability-grant-2026-to-2027.

For deficits arising in 2026/27 and 2027/28, local authorities can expect that we will take an appropriate and proportionate approach, though it will not be unlimited. Future support will take into account local authorities' successful delivery of their approved local SEND reform plan, including appropriate use of investment funding to establish an Experts at Hand offer.