30,000 additional SEND places welcomed by NDCS following budget statement

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) has expressed its support of government plans to create an extra 30,000 school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – a decision announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak during Wednesday’s budget and spending review statement.

According to a government press release, the investment equates to £2.6 billion of capital funding, and is one of several packages for schools – with institutions receiving an extra £1.8 billion for education recovery alongside the £1.4 billion previously announced in June.

Speaking to MPs in the Commons, Sunak said the new school places for SEND pupils follows the government “tripling the amount we invest” to support those students.

“We know that the pandemic has caused significant disruption to children’s learning. We’ve already announced £3.1 billion to help education recovery.

“Today, as promised by the Prime Minister and the Education Secretary, we will go further with just under £2 billion of new funding to help schools and colleges, bringing this government’s total support for education recovery to almost £5 billion,” he added.

In response to the statement, Labour’s Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, criticised a “growing gap in results and opportunities” between private and state school pupils; “supersized classes” and “no serious plan” for catching up on learning lost to the coronavirus.

“£2 billion announced today – a plain imitation of the £15 billion catch-up fund that the prime minister’s own education tsar said was needed.

“No wonder, Madame Deputy Speaker, that he resigned,” she said.

Meanwhile, NDCS’ Director of Policy and Campaigns, Mike Hobday welcomed the new SEND funding, but added that “the fact remains” that the system has been “chronically underfunded for years”.

He continued: “What’s more, parents of deaf children tell us that their children are being badly let down by a SEND system that isn’t supporting them to achieve the results they are capable of.

“We now urgently need more Teachers of the Deaf, as numbers have fallen by 15% since 2011. While the plan to build new specialist classrooms is helpful, bricks and mortar alone won’t ensure the next generation of deaf talent doesn’t fall by the wayside.

“We need investment in school support and specialist services.”

Mr Hobday also added that “more apprenticeships and traineeships” – with Sunak stating that the government is “significantly increasing funding” in this area – is a “step in the right direction, but won’t reach those “furthest away from the labour market” in need of tailored support to enter employment.

“Schemes such as Access to Work and Jobcentre Plus are important in enabling young deaf people to find and sustain employment.

“Access to these schemes needs to be improved, and deaf young people need to be made aware of them whilst they are at school and college,” he concluded.

Neither schemes were mentioned by Sunak in Wednesday’s budget.

The Chancellor’s financial statement can be read in full on the UK Government website, or in British Sign Language via ParliamentLive.TV (which also includes Labour’s response).

Photo: Luca Boffa/10 Downing Street.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.