PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Special Educational Needs: Dorset (18 July 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of SEND provision in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and what steps she plans to take to support the local authority in that area to improve the funding and delivery of SEND services.

Asked by:
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)

The department has been working closely with all statutory partners involved in delivering special educational needs and disability (SEND) services in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole since their local area SEND inspection in June 2021.

The department holds regular formal monitoring meetings with the local authority and partners as part of holding the local area to account for making the necessary improvements in services. The latest monitoring meeting highlighted that the local authority and partners are taking positive steps to improve services, with some evidence of early impact, but that there are still ways to go to ensure that all children and families receive the service they require and deserve.

The department has put in place robust support for the local authority and their partners through the appointment of a Sector Led Improvement Partner and SEND advisor support. The department will continue to work with the local area to ensure they deliver further improvements in services.

It is also important that the department has a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed. Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not been set. This means that decisions on high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, and the publication of allocations to local authorities for that year, will not be to the usual timescales.

Answered by:
Catherine McKinnell (Labour)
26 July 2024