Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the next Comprehensive Spending Review allocates adequate funding for disabled children’s social care to allow every local authority to provide the support services that every disabled child needs.

Funding for local authorities’ services, including disabled children’s social care, is unringfenced, allowing local authorities flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities.

In the 2021-22 financial year, councils have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including a £1.7 billion grant for social care. The government has also provided an additional £6 billion of funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including those on services for disabled children.

The department will continue to work hard across government ahead of the next Spending Review to ensure children and young people are at the heart of this government’s priorities.