To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) how the Special Educational Needs Reform Agenda will ensure that children with special educational needs in mainstream schools receive the necessary support; and (ii) the safeguards that are in place to prevent children with special educational needs in mainstream schools from being disadvantaged due to resource constraints.

My Special Educational Needs (SEN) Reform Agenda and associated Delivery Plan, published on 4 February 2025, set out an ambitious programme for change to ensure the education system can meet the needs of all children with SEN, regardless of the educational setting they attend. The Delivery Plan contains a wide range of actions to be implemented across mainstream and special education provision.

Successful delivery of the SEN Reform Agenda will require investment and, as indicated in the documents, my department awaits the outcomes of a bid to the NICS Transformation Fund which would provide some of the investment necessary to commence implementation of the Delivery Plan. I have also sought the support of Executive colleagues in securing this much needed investment which would ensure delivery of the draft Programme for Government (PfG) priority ‘Better Support for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs’.