PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Special Educational Needs: Coronavirus (22 September 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to allocate additional ring-fenced funding in the Comprehensive Spending Review to support children with SEND to (a) catch up on lost learning and (b) receive the therapies and social care support they require.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

The department is currently working hard with HM Treasury as part of the Spending Review to understand what resources the education and children’s social care sectors in England need over the coming years. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will set out the department’s settlement when the Spending Review concludes.

In advance of the Spending Review, we have introduced a COVID-19 catch-up premium worth £650 million to support mainstream and special schools to make up for lost teaching time. There is additional weighting for specialist settings, in recognition of the significantly higher per pupil costs they face. Headteachers will decide how this premium is spent, according to the needs of their pupils. Our expectation is that this funding will be spent on additional activities required to support children to catch up. We have also introduced a new £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils. This will increase access to high-quality education for disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers. This includes a £96 million fund for tuition for students aged between 16 and 19 years.

Answered by:
Vicky Ford (Conservative)
30 September 2020