I was pleased last week to join more than 75 MPs and their representatives at a parliamentary briefing in Westminster on the crisis in SEND provision.
Hosted by the f40 group, the Local Government Association (LGA), and the County Councils Network (CCN), we heard that the number of children receiving SEND support has more than doubled in recent years – while funding and resources have failed to keep pace. While High Needs budgets have increased in recent years, English local authorities are expecting to have a cumulative £5bn SEND deficit by March 2026.
Research presented to us showed that alongside more funding, major reform to the system is crucial, to enable schools to better support inclusion of SEND pupils and to provide better early help to those children in need of extra support. The current system, which pits parents, education settings and local authorities against each other, is simply not working for anyone.
I’ve already raised the issue of fairer funding for Devon schools with the Schools Minister - some schools receive more than £5,000 less funding per pupil than other schools and will continue to do this. Funding for SEND pupils varies between £960 per child to £3,330 per child depending on where they live. In Devon it is around £1,250. This is simply wrong, and I hear regularly from parents battling with a system that is failing their children.
It’s clear that policies relating to education, family services and SEND have steadily reduced the capacity for inclusion and wider support services, and increased pressure on the SEND system. The Statutory framework is also flawed – how SEN is defined, the roles and accountabilities of partners in the system, and the effect of the Tribunal.
The research concluded that we must stop treating SEND as a separate “system”, and fundamentally reorientate our national approach to education and child development to focus on inclusion and preparation for adult life.
I have just been appointed to the Education Select Committee in Parliament, and this is something that will – I have no doubt – be top of the agenda for all of us.
Comments