Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools in Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency receive adequate resources to meet the needs of (a) all pupils and (b) those with special educational needs and disabilities.

Core school funding is distributed via the dedicated schools grant (DSG) to local authorities. Local authorities (Lambeth for Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency) then set their own local formulae which determine individual school allocations.

Through the DSG, Lambeth Council is receiving £241 million for mainstream schools in financial year 2025/26. This represents an increase of 1.9% per pupil compared to 2024/25 (excluding growth and falling rolls funding).

Mainstream schools in Lambeth attract £8,138 per pupil on average (excluding growth and falling rolls funding) in financial year 2025/26. From their budgets, schools are expected to meet the costs of additional support for their pupils with special educational needs, up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. Most pupils will require support costing less than that. For costs greater than that threshold, schools can access funding from the local authority’s high needs budget.

Through the DSG, Lambeth Council is receiving a high needs funding allocation of £71 million in the 2025/26 financial year. This national funding formula (NFF) allocation is a 7% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

Funding for the 2026/27 financial year and beyond has not yet been determined and is subject to the multi-year spending review.