Correspondence May. 24 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: Letter from Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP, Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, relating to Equity
May. 24 2024
Source Page: National Citizen Service Trust Annual Business Plan 2024 to 2025Found: needs of young people.
May. 24 2024
Source Page: Free early years provision and childcare: model agreementFound: Free early years provision and childcare: model agreement
Mentions:
1: Ben Wallace (Con - Wyre and Preston North) and treat it with the severity it needs. - Speech Link
2: Robert Halfon (Con - Harlow) They tell me what is really going on, whether it is someone whose child cannot get special educational - Speech Link
3: Robin Walker (Con - Worcester) educational needs; the House passed some fantastic legislation in 2014 but it has not achieved its objectives - Speech Link
4: Will Quince (Con - Colchester) provision for special educational needs and disabilities; working alongside brilliant NHS staff to reduce - Speech Link
5: Marcus Jones (Con - Nuneaton) special educational needs, which is so important to many young people and families across the country.My - Speech Link
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the impact of (a) integrating SEND children in mainstream schools and (b) sending SEND children to specialised schools on the (i) educational outcomes and (ii) general wellbeing of those children.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan sets out a vision for a single, national inclusive SEND and AP system where all children, no matter their need, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. This requires high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. This should be alongside improved access to timely, high-quality specialist provision, where this is appropriate.
The department continues to monitor the literature and latest research on the impact of inclusion.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to allocate new (a) funding and (b) resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities in schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
High needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is over £10.5 billion in 2024/25, which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. Of this, Sefton Council is due to receive a high needs funding allocation of £47.8 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 32% per head over the three years from 2021/22. This funding will help local authorities and schools, both mainstream and special schools, with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
In addition, on 22 May the department published 2024/25 allocations of the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant, which helps schools with the costs of the 2023 teachers’ pay award, and the 2024 Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant, which helps schools with the increased employer contribution rate from April 2024. This funding totals £1.9 billion in 2024/25 and is to support schools with the costs of their teachers, and therefore contributes to the resources that are available for schools’ pupils with SEND.
In March 2024, the department also published just under £850 million of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for 2023/24 and 2024/25. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support them deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision (AP).
This funding forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 which, when combined with the department’s ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools, is creating over 60,000 new specialist places across the country.
In total, Sefton Council has been allocated just over £9.7 million through HNPCA between 2022 and 2025.
This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
In addition to local authority allocations, 201 special free schools are either open or planned to open in future years. Once at capacity, these schools will provide over 21,000 places for pupils with special educational needs. Over 10,000 of these places have already been delivered.
This includes 56 special free schools being delivered as part of the £2.6 billion of high needs capital funding received in the 2021 Spending Review, plus additional funding announced at the 2024 Spring Budget.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) suitability of and (b) need for a review of Provider Access Legislation for students with SEND to assist them with acquiring employment.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Since January 2023, schools have been required to comply with strengthened provider access legislation, offering at least six opportunities for pupils to meet providers of technical education or apprenticeships. These encounters offer insights into the courses and qualifications that different providers offer, supporting pupils to make more informed decisions about their next step.
All pupils should have the same opportunities for meaningful provider encounters. The overwhelming majority of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with high levels of needs, can access fulfilling jobs and careers with the right preparation and support. Schools should involve parents/carers, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator and other relevant staff to identify any barriers and support needed, and tailor each provider encounter appropriately.
Where future pathways are limited for learners due to the nature of their specific learning needs and/or physical ability, for example where they are highly likely to proceed into adult social care, it is recognised that it may be necessary for additional flexibility in how these encounters are delivered.
The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) supports schools, colleges and specialist institutions to meet the requirements of the provider access legislation. The CEC has produced tailored resources for provider access legislation in SEND settings, sharing good practice in developing and delivering tailored encounters within SEND provision. The resources can be found at the following link: https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/resources/provider-access-legislation-pal-send-settings.
Data published by the CEC provides encouraging early evidence that specialist settings are offering more meaningful encounters for their pupils. For example, in the 2022/23 academic year, 69% of schools reported that most young people had been provided with meaningful encounters with Independent Training Providers (up 9% percentage points in 2021/22). This was higher in special schools and alternative provision (90%), an increase of 22% percentage points from the previous year.
2023/24 is the first full academic year that the strengthened legislation has been in place. The department will continue to monitor and review the support in place, the level of compliance, and the impact on young people.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure on special educational needs in England in 2023–24; and what is their forecast expenditure for 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Local authorities spent £7.9 billion on education for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the 2022/23 financial year. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) also allocated a further £1.0 billion on funding for SEND places directly to providers in that financial year. The outturn data for expenditure in the last financial year (2023/24) is not yet available but is due to be published later in 2024. Planned expenditure reported by local authorities for that year was £9.4 billion and the ESFA’s expenditure was £1.1 billion.
These figures do not include the amounts spent by mainstream schools and colleges from their budgets on children and young people with lower level SEND. The department does not collect this expenditure information from individual schools and colleges.
Written Evidence May. 23 2024
Inquiry: Boys’ attainment and engagement in educationFound: BAE0020 - Boys’ attainment and engagement in education Education Policy Institute Written Evidence
Written Evidence May. 23 2024
Inquiry: Boys’ attainment and engagement in educationFound: BAE0039 - Boys’ attainment and engagement in education University of Portsmouth Written Evidence