Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled £740 million allocated for 10,000 new places for pupils with SEND, published on 27 March 2025, how many new SEND places will be created in Norfolk.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision, sits with local authorities.

The department has now published allocations for £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.

The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

Norfolk County Council has been allocated just over £13 million for 2025/26 and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.