Written questions by Savage.

What steps his Department has taken to ensure that children with (a) complex SEND and (b) escalating behavioural needs have timely access to suitable residential education placements when local day settings are unable to meet their needs; and what support is available to families (i) experiencing delays in placement decisions and (ii) for whom safeguarding or health risks have been identified.

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).The department has published allocations for £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2025/26 financial year. The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with education, health and care plan timeliness, including placement decisions. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help the local authority to identify the barriers and put in place an effective recovery plan.Free support and advice for families and local authorities is provided by Special Educational Needs and Disability Information and Advice Services.Where there are concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing, support from social care services may be required. Under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, it is the general duty of every local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need, including disabled children, and to promote the upbringing of such children by their families by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. Where appropriate, social care services may be provided in conjunction with an educational placement such as a residential special school.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent early years statutory guidance changes on the financial sustainability of (a) private and (b) voluntary childcare providers.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.As the early years entitlements are expanded, it is vitally important they remain accessible and affordable for families. The department updated the early years statutory guidance to ensure there is clarity for parents, providers and local authorities about additional charges associated with entitlement hours.The statutory guidance also emphasises transparency at the heart of how the entitlement should be passed onto parents, including that any costs should be clearer on invoices and websites. However, for these new transparency expectations, the guidance allows a lead-in time until January 2026 to give providers time to adapt.Government funding for the entitlements does not cover consumables like meals, nappies or sun cream or additional activities, such as trips, so providers are able to ask parents to pay for these. However, in line with a recent high court judgment, these charges must not be mandatory or a condition of accessing a funded place. The high court judgement is accessible here: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2025/224. This guidance must reflect the law governing the delivery of the early education and childcare entitlements, which has not changed.

What steps her Department is taking to increase access to accredited online schools for pupils with (a) special educational needs and (b) mental health conditions who are unable to attend mainstream education.

I refer the hon. Member for South Cotswolds to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43288.

What steps her Department is taking to increase access to accredited online schools for pupils with (a) special educational needs and (b) mental health conditions who are unable to attend mainstream education.

The department introduced the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS) in April 2023 to ensure high standards of education and protect pupils receiving a full-time education online. Providers must meet online education standards to become accredited. The scheme is non-statutory. The department encourages all eligible providers to engage with the scheme and for commissioners to use accredited providers only.Online education should not be viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school. The department expects schools to consider online education only as a last resort where the alternative would be no education and only after it has been established that the pupil is, or will be, absent from school. In such cases, remote education can have the benefit of allowing absent pupils to keep on track with their education and stay connected to their teachers and peers.Local authority commissioners, often in conjunction with a child’s school, can use online provision as a form of alternative provision for children with a medical condition or school refusal, where necessary adjustments have not been appropriate. Local authorities can also, as a last resort, provide online education for children who are new to an area and are awaiting a school place.Where it would not be appropriate for special educational provision to be delivered in a school, college or early years setting, a local authority may put in place education otherwise than at a school or college under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. If a local authority chooses to specify education otherwise than at a school or college in an education, health and care plan, it will be statutorily responsible for securing the provision and funding it.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of cuts to funding for level 7 healthcare apprenticeships on the deliverability of the NHS long-term workforce plan.

I refer the hon. Member for South Cotswolds to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39189.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of cuts to funding for level 7 healthcare apprenticeships on the availability of Advanced Clinical Practitioners in the NHS.

I refer the hon. Member for South Cotswolds to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39189.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of cuts to funding for level 7 apprenticeships on the availability of Chartered Town Planners in local government.

I refer the hon. Member for South Cotswolds to the answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23140.

What data her Department holds on the proportion of (a) healthy and (b) unhealthy food provided to (i) schools and (ii) school caterers.

The department does not hold data on the proportion of healthy and unhealthy food provided to schools and school caterers.The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014, known as school food standards. Schools are responsible for their school meals service and governing boards have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the standards. The standards can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.

If she will provide (a) additional resources and (b) oversight mechanisms to ensure local authorities provide educational, health and care plan assessments in a timely manner.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department is providing almost £1 billion more for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9 billion. This funding is a 9% cash increase in funding compared to 2024/25 and will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND.The department is working closely with experts on reforms, recently appointing a strategic advisor for SEND, who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families as we consider the next steps for the future of SEND reform.We want to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments are progressed promptly and, if they are needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they require.Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an EHC plan. EHC plans must be issued within 20 weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the required support. In 2023, there were 138,200 initial requests for an EHC plan and 90,500 assessments took place. 50.3% of new EHC plans in 2023 were issued within 20 weeks.The department knows that local authorities have seen an increase in the number of assessment requests and that more must be done to ensure that local areas deliver effective and timely services.

If she will take steps to provide additional (a) funding and (b) oversight of local authorities for the provision of education health and care plans.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department is providing almost £1 billion more for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9 billion. This funding is a 9% cash increase in funding compared to 2024/25 and will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND.The department is working closely with experts on reforms, recently appointing a strategic advisor for SEND, who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families as we consider the next steps for the future of SEND reform.We want to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments are progressed promptly and, if they are needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they require.Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an EHC plan. EHC plans must be issued within 20 weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the required support. In 2023, there were 138,200 initial requests for an EHC plan and 90,500 assessments took place. 50.3% of new EHC plans in 2023 were issued within 20 weeks.The department knows that local authorities have seen an increase in the number of assessment requests and that more must be done to ensure that local areas deliver effective and timely services.

How many children receive free school meals in South Cotswolds constituency.

As of January 2024, 12.5% (1,761) of pupils attending state-funded schools in the South Cotswolds constituency were eligible for and claiming free school meals. This compares with a rate of 24.6% of pupils in state-funded schools in England. These figures are calculated from the school level supporting file published as part of the 2023/24 statistical release ‘School, pupils and their characteristics’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.Schools have been matched to their post July 2024 constituency using the department’s Get Information about Schools service, which can be found here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

What steps the Government is taking to help ensure accurate representation of (a) cases involving children already known to social services and (b) other aspects of home education in (i) public statements and (ii) media coverage.

Public statements issued by the department are reviewed for accuracy by policy officials, communications specialists, special advisers and, where needed, lawyers.The department also draws on information from external sources such as local authorities’ children’s services departments where relevant.The department’s media team maintains a comprehensive record of all media queries and public statements made in response to journalists which can be drawn on for future enquiries. Similar processes are followed by the department’s correspondence team and ministerial private offices.Publicly available statistics are published by the department on the GOV.UK website.The department cannot comment on the content of external sources which are not the department’s responsibility and can only comment on information provided by the department itself.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children with (a) hearing impairments and (b) other disabilities receive adequate support at their local schools when specialist facilities are not available; and what support her Department provides for transport in cases where parents have to send their child to a school further away that provides such support.

The government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.Whilst we recognise the urgency and need to drive improvements, we are conscious that there are no quick fixes and want to take a considered approach to deliver sustainable education reform. Our initial work includes commissioning independent evidence reviews to identify what works to support children and young people with different needs, including hearing impairments. We are also working with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities are better reflected in the Education Inspection Framework.The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the route is unsafe. Where a child’s nearest school is unable to offer them a place, the nearest school that can admit them becomes their nearest school for school travel purposes.