Local authorities are facing increased funding strains for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England.
A report released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed the drastic growth in children and young people receiving education, health and care plans (EHCPs) has significantly contributed to this increase.
As a result, local authorities are struggling to provide the sufficient funding required, since the demand for spending is higher than funding provisions, and the IFS estimates that local authorities had a deficit of at least £3.3bn in total in 2024.
SEND charity KEEN London’s head of operations Neil Nute said: “There is more awareness and understanding of SEND needs, so that they are being identified in a way that, perhaps historically, they weren’t.
“What might be happening is that children who before wouldn’t have met that threshold are now being provided these plans in order for schools to have additional budget and finance.”
EHCPs were introduced as part of the Children and Families Act 2014, and proscribe the special educational needs, support and desired outcomes for a child or young person aged up to 25.
The plans require an assessment to be provided, which are carried out by local authorities who ultimately cover the costs laid out in the EHCPs.
Between 2018 and 2024, the number of school pupils with EHCPs grew by 71%, making up 5% of all school children.
The demand in London is significantly higher than many other parts of the country, and the reports shows that pupils on the autistic spectrum in the city are 16% more likely to have EHCPs than those in the West Midlands, for example.
About 70% of the children under KEEN’s service are non-speaking, and autism diagnoses are the most prevalent special educational need noted.
However, the huge demand for SEND provision in London has meant the charity has approximately 50 to 60 children on waiting lists.
KEEN’s head of funding and communications Kirstie Hayward explained the knock-on impact the strain on SEND funding has on parents.
She said: “Whether it’s mainstream education or other types of groups, I think it’s very difficult for parents, because their children cannot access things that most other children just take for granted.
“There has also been an increase in parents having to go to tribunals and trying to access legal support to get the plans that their children are entitled to.
“It’s a national crisis.”
KEEN places a huge emphasis on early stage intervention, to alleviate the stress placed on children, parents and local authorities alike.
Nute added: “When things are difficult economically, early intervention is the first thing that goes and that’s another reason why we might have seen increased demands over the last few years.”
SEND educational service provider BeyondAutism also places great emphasis on the impact that increased early intervention could have on reducing these pressures.
BeyondAutism CEO Tracie Coultas-Pitman said: “The reason we set up our early years’ service is that parents often feel very isolated, and they don’t understand their child’s needs, and so EHCP assessments often seem like the easiest option for them.
“The fear if families is if they don’t have an EHCP, they won’t have the funding, and so they won’t have the support.”
A further problem lies in increased spending on SEND pupils attending specialised and independent schools, since these schools cost local authorities £61,500 per year, compared with £23,900 in the state funded sector.
She also highlighted the importance of schools and charities working cohesively with local councils to meet these needs and ensure that the increased demand for support is met to the highest standard possible.
Coultas-Pitman said: “The difficulty is, the minute a local authority places a child in a school like ours, it’s in addition to what they are already trying to provide, so it’s a bit of a double whammy on these local authorities.
“We want to make sure that these children can become the adult at 30 that they want to be.”
For more information, visit https://www.keenlondon.org and https://www.beyondautism.org.uk
Featured image credit: Ben Wicks via Unsplash
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