The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee’s report Support for children and young people with special educational needs published on 15 January highlights significant challenges within England’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. Notably, it outlines how funding over the past ten years has not matched demand – as the previous Conservative Party governments let the SEND system fall into a state of disrepair.
SEND: falling apart at the seams
As BBC News reported:
In a highly critical report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found a Send system “in disarray”, “mired in red tape, lacking funding, and failing to produce value for money”.
An estimated 1.7 million school-aged children have special education needs and disabilities in England.
The Department for Education (DfE) said the government was “making progress” on the issue with a £1bn investment in Send.
Despite a 58% increase in high needs funding over the past decade, the number of children with Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans has surged by 140%, leading to funding not keeping pace with demand. This disparity has resulted in stagnant outcomes for children, eroding parental confidence in the system.
Key issues identified:
- Delays in support: families face prolonged waiting times for assessments and support. In 2023, only 50% of EHC plans were issued within the statutory 20-week period:
- Geographical disparities: access to support varies significantly by location, with some areas providing better services than others.
- Adversarial system: parents often encounter a complex and confrontational process to secure necessary support. Notably, while only 2.5% of local authority decisions on EHCs were appealed in 2023, tribunals ruled in favor of parents and carers in 98% of these cases, indicating systemic issues.
- Financial strain on local authorities: expenditures have consistently exceeded departmental high-needs funding, leading to substantial deficits. By March 2026, these deficits could total £4.6 billion, potentially pushing nearly half of English local authorities toward insolvency. Projections suggest a £3.4 billion gap between high-needs annual funding and forecasted costs by 2027–28.
- Lack of clear plans: the DfE lacks a comprehensive, costed plan to address these challenges in SEND and measure progress effectively.
- Health service delays: long waits for health services exacerbate the situation. As of June 2024, over 40,000 children had been waiting more than 12 weeks for speech and language therapy, underscoring the need for timely access to health expertise.
What a mess
The Public Accounts Committee summed up by saying:
The Department of Education will be unable to make the fundamental reforms needed without a clear, costed plan to measure progress, which it is lacking. To do this it needs a clear vision of what an inclusive education would look like, better data to target funding, and to deliver a system where all those with critical roles work together. This includes the Department for Health and Social Care, who must play their part in reducing long waits for support. With more than 40,000 children waiting over 12 weeks for speech and language therapy alone as at June 2024, timely access to health expertise constitutes a significant barrier in a struggling system.
Recommendations:
- Develop a clear vision for inclusive education: the DfE should articulate what constitutes an inclusive education and ensure all stakeholders collaborate effectively.
- Enhance data utilisation: improved data collection and analysis are essential to target funding appropriately and address disparities.
- Address immediate financial challenges: The DfE must formulate strategies to assist local authorities in managing current financial strains and preventing further deficits.
- Ensure timely access to health services: collaborate with the Department for Health and Social Care to reduce waiting times for essential therapies and interventions.
- Implement comprehensive changes: establish a detailed, costed plan with measurable objectives to reform the SEND system, ensuring sustainability and improved outcomes for children.
Urgent action on SEND needed
The Local Government Association was particularly concerned by the report. Councillor Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
The Committee is right to describe the failing SEND system as an emergency, and its report reflects councils’ long-standing concerns over the need for more inclusive provision and the immense financial pressures on councils to be adequately addressed.
It is vital the Government urgently sets out a comprehensive reform plan that ensures children and their families get the support they need and deserve.
This must include ensuring councils on a financially stable footing, with high needs deficits written off. Otherwise, many councils will face a financial cliff-edge, and be faced with having to cut other services to balance budgets through no fault of their own, or their residents.
Without urgent action, the report warns of a “lost generation” of children who may leave school without receiving the necessary support, emphasising the critical need for systemic reform to meet the growing demands and complexities of SEND provision in England.
Featured image via the Canary
