Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What assessment she has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of children with Special Educational Needs.

Over the last ten years, there has been an international increase in children identified with special educational needs (SEN). Between 2016/17 and 2021/22, England saw a 40% increase in pupils with an official SEN designation. For France it was 49% and for Germany 19%, according to the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. Further information is available here: https://www.european-agency.org/activities/data/cross-country-reports.Definitions and systems vary considerably between countries, but overall, international studies suggest this increase is driven by a combination of better understanding and diagnosis of need, as well as social and medical factors. Over the same period, there was also a steeper rise in England in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) that attract a statutory plan compared to other similar countries. This started after the 2014 reforms and has been driven by more use of statutory plans for some types of need. Social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs and autistic spectrum disorder make up 88% of the total increase seen in education, health and care (EHC) plans since 2014.Examples of the factors behind rises in needs are a greater awareness and understanding of conditions within families, the medical profession and schools, a cultural shift towards greater acceptance and support for those with SEN, and advancing parental age and increases in pre-term birth survival.Between and within local areas, there is significant variation in the identification of SEND. In 2021, the Education Policy Institute published a paper examining the factors that predicted the probability of a child being identified for SEND support or an EHC plan. The research found that which school a child attends makes more difference to their chances of being identified with SEND than anything about them as an individual, their experiences or what local authority they live in. This paper can be accessed at: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/identifying-send/.The government is carrying out a programme of work as part of a SEND and alternative provision data strategy to ensure we take stock of our system health indicators and data flows, as well as the regular data and insights needed as we embark on a programme of reform. This work will be an integral part of programme governance going forward.

What her Department's policy is on the future of the SEND Change Programme.

Change Programme Partnerships (CPP) have provided valuable insights and learning across the special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision system. This includes informing government’s thinking about effective, inclusive, mainstream practice. The Change Programme will continue to work with the CPP to test, learn and promote effective inclusive practice. This will include understanding what works and why, to make the proposed changes work until the end March 2025. Decisions around the future of the programme will be made in due course.

What steps she is taking to provide financial support to local authorities for SEND provision after March 2026.

Funding for special educational needs and disabilities provision beyond March 2026 will be determined in the next stage of the government's spending review, in spring 2025.

If she will amend regulations on school meals so that there is no obligation to serve animal-derived foods.

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools.Under the School Food Standards, meat must be served on three or more days each week and a portion of oily fish once every three weeks. Beyond this, the department believes that head teachers, school governors and caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, considering local circumstances and the needs of their pupils.  As such, notwithstanding the requirements around meat and oily fish, schools may provide a meal with any other type of protein every day if they choose to.  Although schools are required to make milk available, the School Food Standards also enable schools to provide a variety of other drinks including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium and combination and flavoured variations of these drinks, to suit particular medical, dietary and cultural needs.

If she will hold discussions with Ofsted on the potential merits of identifying young carers as a specific group within the education system.

Young carers were added, as a specific group within the education system, to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year. The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward. This includes considering how schools are to be assessed in future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, in the context of the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school. Local authorities have a statutory duty to undertake a Young Carers’ Needs Assessment where it appears that a young carer may need support or where an assessment is requested by a young carer or by a parent of a young carer. The Children’s Social Care National Framework, which was issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families, including young carers. The department is clear that the everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and break down barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. We have included specific expectations, in the framework, for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners on providing help to young carers.

If she will take steps to enforce Section 96(1)(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 on providing a needs assessment for all young carers.

Young carers were added, as a specific group within the education system, to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year. The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward. This includes considering how schools are to be assessed in future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, in the context of the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school. Local authorities have a statutory duty to undertake a Young Carers’ Needs Assessment where it appears that a young carer may need support or where an assessment is requested by a young carer or by a parent of a young carer. The Children’s Social Care National Framework, which was issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families, including young carers. The department is clear that the everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and break down barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. We have included specific expectations, in the framework, for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners on providing help to young carers.