SPENDING REVIEW

Used a question during the Spending Review today to welcome new measures like the £4 billion Levelling Up Fund for local infrastructure but also underline to the Chancellor how Ipswich must be very much part of the mix when it comes to this funding, alongside the Midlands and the North. These regions are often spoken about when it comes to levelling up the country but our town deserves to be a big part of this conversation as well.

I also welcomed the increase in the schools budget by £7.1 billion by 2022-23 compared to 2019-20 and the plans to rebuild 500 schools over the next decade are important but we have to be clear that children with SEND must get the benefits of this funding as well. And it was good that in response to me the Chancellor was able to confirm that £300 million has been allocated for new school places for children with SEND which is about 4 times as much than was provided to local authorities a year ago.

More high quality special school places is something I’ve been calling for since my election, and I’ve seen first-hand how these places make a huge difference to youngsters through my involvement as a Governor at the new Sir Bobby Robson school in Ipswich. A further special school on Woodbridge Road in Ipswich is due to open in 2022 for young people with speech and language difficulties which is highly positive. But that being said, I know there are still children in Ipswich who would benefit from a place at a special school but can’t get one and we must go further. And I’ll be looking very closely at how Ipswich can benefit from this increased funding for new places the Chancellor spoke about.

It is the case that special school places to cost more, but it’s the right thing to do and we’ll all benefit as a society if children with SEND are able to achieve their full potential.