Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding for children and young people with special educational needs was allocated to East Sussex local authority area through the dedicated schools grant in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Funding for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) is allocated to local authorities through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which includes both funding to be delegated to mainstream schools, and funding for the additional costs associated with educating children and young people with high needs.

The Department does not allocate specific amounts of funding for children and young people with SEN within the funding allocated to local authorities for their mainstream schools. Schools are funded through a formula set by their local authority, and local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional costs of pupils with SEN, up to £6,000 per annum. For those pupils whose additional support costs more than £6,000 the local authority pays top-up funding to the schools from their high needs budget.

East Sussex County Council’s high needs allocation, within the dedicated schools grant, in each of the last three years was as follows:

2015-16: £44.06 million

2014-15: £42.82 million

2013-14: £40.94 million