PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Special Educational Needs: Autism (4 September 2018)

Local councils have a statutory duty under the Children and Families Act (2014) to identify needs in their local area.

They also have a duty, together with partner agencies, to commission services to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. This includes services for children and young people with autism. These services must be included in each council’s ‘local offer’ of available services. Each local offer must be reviewed regularly in consultation with local families, which involves taking the families’ views into consideration when assessing demand and local needs.

Core funding for schools and high needs has risen from almost £41 billion in the period 2017 to 2018 to £42.4 billion in the period 2018 to 2019. £6 billion of this funding is allocated for high needs.

We have provided an additional £140 million in high needs funding in the period 2018 to 2019 and will provide an additional £120 million in the period 2019 to 2020. This supports local authorities to meet the needs of all children and young people with more complex SEND, including those with autism.

In Bristol, the local authority will receive £51 million in high needs funding in the period 2018 to 2019, which is 2.7% more than in the period 2017 to 2018. Figures for each local authority can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.

Additionally, the department has been funding the Autism Education Trust (AET) since 2011 to provide training for early years, school and further education staff. To date, the AET has provided training, through sub-contracted ‘hubs’, for more than 185,000 education staff so that they support children and young people with autism. This contract was extended from April 2018 to March 2020 with a further £1.45 million.