Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State on 24 November (HCWS385) on finances for the Northern Ireland departments for 2022–23 and the budget outlook for 2023–24, what assessment they have made of the budgetary resource pressures for Special Needs Education within these overall budgets.

The budget set out in the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s Written Statement to Parliament on 24 November is an appropriate settlement that prioritises spending in education and gives the Northern Ireland Department of Education a total allocation of £2.64 billion. This is an increase of £286 million above 2021-22 spending (after excluding accounting for one-off COVID support in 2021-22). The Northern Ireland Department of Education will now be required to manage its allocated funding in order to live within this budget total. This includes managing funding provision for areas such as Special Educational Needs.

The Secretary of State will shortly legislate for the budget in a Budget Bill. This does not, however, remove the pressing need to have locally accountable political leaders in place to take the fundamental decisions which will secure a more sustainable future for the people of Northern Ireland.