England’s special educational needs system is a postcode lottery in urgent need of funding and reform, say MPs
Share:
Thousands of children are being failed because of the "inequitable" special educational needs system, MPs have said. In a damning report the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says too many families are struggling to access support their children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) "desperately need".
Over the past nine years, the number of young people receiving SEND support in state schools has increased by 140,000 from 1m to 1.14m. Budgets have not kept pace, leading to a "crisis" in the system. Children with even more complex support needs are legally entitled to education, health and care (EHC) plans, and the number of these obligations has more than doubled, increasing by 140% to 576,000.
Local authority spending on SEND has consistently outstripped government funding, leading to substantial deficits in council budgets. Representatives of the chief financial officers of 40 councils in England, the SCT, estimate that rising demand and costs have resulted in SEND deficits of £4bn among English councils, projected to grow to £5.9bn this year.
This increase is not unusual, with similar rises seen in other high-income countries, but the committee notes that the Department for Education could do more to better understand the reasons behind the rise. In response to today's report, Cllr Roger Gough, children's social care spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said: "While government has committed to reform, it is vital that it is done quickly and correctly. Both councils and families can ill-afford to wait.
