Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the scope within the existing budget of increasing the number of SEN-trained teaching assistants so that children with high needs can have more one-to-one support.

Most teaching assistants who support children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are employed by schools to meet the needs of those who require such intervention. Others are employed using top-up funding that the local authority provides to schools, usually for children with the most complex needs who have statements of SEN or Education, Health and Care plans.

It is for individual schools to make the necessary decisions as to how many teaching assistants they should have and how to deploy them. Schools are legally required to use their best endeavours to make sure that children with SEN get the support they need. A school may judge it appropriate to provide one-to-one support for some children. If so, it is for the school to ensure that those providing such support are suitably trained.