Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to provide additional funding support to pupil referral units to assist with (a) closing the attainment gap and (b) wellbeing and mental health support.

As part of the department’s £3 billion education recovery package, we have provided additional support worth £1.7 billion for all schools, including alternative provision (AP). This can be used to help pupils to catch up on missed education, and for additional support for mental health and wellbeing where needed. AP schools have also benefitted from:

• extra funding for one to one tutoring for their pupils - this was additionally weighted in recognition of the significantly higher per-pupil costs that AP schools face
• the £200 million summer schools funding to provide additional support over the summer holidays, which has also been uplifted for AP and other types of specialist schools
• the £8 million transition fund to support successful transitions to post-16 destinations for Year 11 AP pupils who during the COVID-19 outbreak have been at a heightened risk of dropping out of education
• investment of over £45 million, announced in the cross-government Beating Crime Plan, for specialist support in both mainstream and AP in serious violence hotspots to support young people at risk of involvement in violence to reengage in education

Mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the government. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the department prioritised keeping schools open for vulnerable children and young people. Attending school is vital for children and young people’s wellbeing, as well as their education.

In March, the department announced a £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support. We will increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams, which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges, from 59 in March this year to around 400 by April 2023. This will mean that nearly 3 million children and young people, including those in AP, will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.

Additionally, AP schools are eligible for an additional £17 million of new funding for schools and local authorities to improve mental health and wellbeing support. This includes funding for local authorities to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme to provide free expert training, support and resources for staff dealing with children and young people experiencing additional pressures from the last year, including trauma, anxiety, or grief. It also includes funding for schools to train a senior mental health lead from their staff in the next academic year, which is part of the government’s commitment to offering this training to all state schools and colleges by 2025.