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Crisis in England’s special educational needs system: A call for urgent reform 

The Public Accounts Committee has stated in a new report today (15 January) that the system to support children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) in England is reaching, or has arguably already reached, crisis point. 

Over the past decade, the Department for Education has seen a 58 per cent increase in high needs funding. However, this has not kept pace with the soaring demand, evidenced by a 140 per cent rise in the number of children requiring education, health, and care (EHC) plans. 

According to the Public Accounts Committee, outcomes for children have not improved. ‘Too many’ families struggle get help for their children, facing long waiting times for assessments and assistance. Furthermore, in 2023, only half of EHC plans were issued within the statutory 20-week period, leaving many children without essential support. 

The committee stated that whether children receive support depends too much on their postcode, or how well parents can navigate the often ‘chaotic’ system. Only 2.5 per cent of local authority decisions regarding EHC plans were appealed in 2023, yet tribunals ruled in favor of parents in 98 per cent of those cases. 

The financial strain on local authorities is another pressing concern, according to the committee. The government does not know how it will address immediate financial challenges faced by local authorities where, for many years, local authority spending has outstripped departmental high-needs funding, leading to substantial deficits.  

Projections indicate that these deficits could reach £4.6 billion by March 2026, putting nearly half of English local authorities at risk of bankruptcy. The committee said the gap between high-needs annual funding and forecast costs looks set to rise further, with an estimated £3.4 billion mismatch in 2027–28. 

The Department for Education 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, according to the committee. 

With more than 40,000 children waiting over 12 weeks for speech and language therapy alone as of June 2024, the committee added that the Department for Health and Social Care must play its part in reducing long waits for support. It said timely access to health expertise constitutes a significant barrier in a struggling system. 

Responding to today’s report, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The broken SEND system is failing everyone – children, parents, schools and local authorities. 

“It cannot be right that the support children receive often depends not on their needs, but on where they live in the country, and although schools work tirelessly to put the right provision in place they are hamstrung by shortages of funding, resources and specialist staff. 

“While this mess is not of the current government’s making, we welcome the committee’s call for ministers to act with urgency to understand the causes of this crisis, set out the support children should be entitled to, with a focus on early intervention, and match this with the funding required to deliver this support. 

“The government must build on the support outlined in the budget with further funding in the spring spending review, confront the financial cliff-edge councils face next year by writing off SEND-related deficits, and work with the sector on the long-term reform and investment needed to make a lasting difference.” 

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