50 students with special educational needs unable to attend school full-time

Some 50 children with special educational needs (SEN) are unable to attend school full-time due to pressure on the system, Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan has said.

The minister reiterated the need for investment in SEN, outlining that £1.7 billion is required for the next decade for plans for special schools and specialist provision in mainstream schools.

He described a cycle of emergency planning every year to ensure there were enough school places for SEN children despite more than 6,000 additional SEN places having been created since 2020.

Mr Givan said all SEN students had a school place by October 5. But he said that despite “huge efforts” by the Education Authority and schools, 50 are not yet able to attend school on a full-time basis until preparatory work is completed for their classrooms.

Appearing before the Stormont Education Committee on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Givan said the investment required in SEN is beyond his department’s budget.

He also described as “disappointing” that his proposed Executive programme for investment in SEN has not yet been placed on the Executive’s agenda.

“£93 million is required for next year alone, that’s almost a third of my department’s total annual capital budget,” he told MLAs.

“To place investment in SEN infrastructure on a sustainable footing it is vital for it to be recognised as a strategic cross-government priority and secure Executive commitment for funding over the next 10 years.

“Without the support of the Executive and the dedicated programme I simply cannot progress to the next phase of the SEN capital investment strategy, and we will remain trapped in a cycle of emergency planning, reacting every year to the perpetual crisis rather than strategically building for the future.”

He said he submitted detailed proposals to the Executive for a new Executive-led and funded SEN capital investment programme over the next 10 years on October 2.

However, he told the committee that it has not yet been placed on the Executive’s agenda.

“I met with the Finance Minister (John O’Dowd) at the end of the summer before the Assembly returned from the summer recess, we talked through a lot of the financial issues facing the department… he rightly challenges me, ‘where’s your plan, don’t just ask for more money, show me a plan that will deliver an outcome’,” he said.

“In special education needs, we have carried out a very detailed plan… and also mapped out the specialist provision which is needed to create 11,000 new places over the next 10 years and that crystallised in my paper to the Executive of £1.7 billion, now it still hasn’t been placed on the agenda, and I think that’s disappointing.

“I know the deputy First Minister (Emma Little-Pengelly) has approved it to be on the agenda. I hope the First Minister will do the same because for me to get to that strategic long-term financial investment this is the approach that we need to take.”