Special Educational Needs
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a progress report on the (a) delivery of specialist school places and (b) other outcomes by all local authorities that entered into safety valve agreements.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.
The department provides local authorities with annual High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) to support them to meet this duty.
Local authorities with Safety Valve agreements have previously received additional high needs capital funding where they were able to demonstrate that investment in local infrastructure would result in the availability of more appropriate provision and subsequent revenue savings.
This additional capital funding was paid to local authorities as a top-up to their HNPCA funding, and local authorities are responsible for prioritising this funding to create places and address local issues. The department continues to work with local authorities with Safety Valve agreements to deliver their plans.
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