When I was Children's Minister, I heard from many families with SEND children that it often felt like an uphill battle to get the support they need. I was very proud to work on a massive expansion of specialist school places created across the country. Every single area will see an increase in capacity.
Today's announcement of a record £850 million funding boost will help deliver 60,000 extra places, as part of our wider £2.6bn investment between 2022 and 2025 - this is triple our overall investment just three years ago.
For us here in Surrey, the Department for Education has today announced that Frimley Oak Academy will provide specialist places for 170 pupils aged 11 to 19 with social, emotional and mental health needs. This is on top of the new special school in Horsham that was announced at the Autumn Statement.
