Ministers are failing to consider the “full cost” of supporting young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in their plans to reform the system, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (Cipfa).
The government has pledged to take responsibility for Send costs from 2028-29, but Cipfa warned it was overlooking closely associated expenses such as home-to-school transport, which rose to a total of £2.3bn in 2023-24.
A Department for Education consultation on reforming the “failing” Send system, which opened in February, closed yesterday. It promises “a new universal offer, ensuring children receive the right support in mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings”.
The long awaited policy document proposed a move away from a system in which families feel compelled to secure an education, health and care plan (EHCP) to guarantee support, and instead build capacity in mainstream schools so that more needs are met earlier and locally.
This includes creating inclusion spaces in mainstream schools, individual support plans for all Send students in mainstream schools and creating new special school places.
The plans also include a promise to strengthen accountability through amending the Ofsted inspection framework for schools to focus on inclusion and an update to the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission area Send inspection framework.
Alongside the Send reforms, the government also agreed to pay off 90% of historical deficits in the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant ahead of the end to the statutory override – an accountancy tool that has kept high needs deficits off council general fund accounts until 2028.
The government pledged that once the override comes to an end all high needs costs will then be attributed to the Department for Education.
In its consultation response, Cipfa called on the government to “consider how [the] reforms will interact with home-to-school transport and other areas whose cost is closely tied to activity within the Send system”.
“The government claims to be assuming the ‘full cost’ of Send from 2028-29; however, this is not the case,” said Cipfa.
“There are a number of local authority financial pressures linked to Send that go through a council’s general fund (for example, home-to-school transport, case work and the costs of managing the system). Will the government be supporting local authorities with these associated financial pressures from 2028-29?”
Cipfa also called on ministers to “provide clarity on how the government assuming the cost of Send in 2028-29 will work in practice”.
‘Sufficient and sustainable funding’
The body also warned that “sufficient and sustainable funding” would be needed to ensure the success of the government’s reforms.
“Without sufficient long-term funding certainty, workforce capacity and clear accountability,” Cipfa said, “there is a risk that the universal offer will not realise its preventative potential”.
It added: “For reforms to be financially sustainable, local authorities and partners must be able to reflect them in robust medium-term financial plans, supported by credible assumptions on demand, funding and deliverable savings. Without that certainty, councils may continue to face significant Send-related financial risk despite policy reform.”
In particular, “achieving the ambition of the universal offer will not be possible without reform” to notional Send funding, which “has been eroded by inflationary pressures in many areas”.
Concerns over ‘disengagement’ of health partners
In its response to the consultation, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) said its members were “increasingly concerned about the disengagement of health partners, particularly integrated care boards (ICBs), from the Send agenda”.
It said there was growing evidence ICBs were “narrowing their focus to core statutory Send duties, with universal and preventative support viewed as outside of their remit”.
“This presents a significant risk: without full participation from health, the inclusive transformation envisaged by the reforms is unlikely to be realised.”
ADCS added the government’s ambitions on early intervention “will not be realised unless partnership working across education, health and care is significantly strengthened”.
“Too often, disputes over responsibilities, funding and delivery can lead to drift and delay in decision making” it said.
The body pointed to reforms of the Send system in 2014 as a warning, saying these were “well-intentioned and rooted in the right ambitions, but they did not deliver the joined-up, sustainable system that was envisaged”.
It cautioned that “without meaningful alignment across accountability, funding, incentives and outcomes, future reforms risk repeating the shortcomings of 2014: rising demand, escalating costs, increasing conflict, declining public confidence and, ultimately, poorer outcomes for children and young people”.
It added: “ADCS members support the ambition of reform but remain concerned that without clear accountability, sufficient workforce capacity and early legislative change, implementation risks increasing pressure without improving outcomes.
“With these conditions in place, however, the reforms offer a vital opportunity to build a more equitable, sustainable and genuinely child-centred Send system.”
Call to write off all Send deficits
In its response to the consultation, the Local Government Association (LGA) noted a “once in a generation opportunity” to get Send provision right. But it said achieving this would require “practical delivery issues” to be resolved – highlighting partnership working, maintaining suitable timescales and “ensuring sufficient powers, resourcing, and capacity” as crucial areas.
The LGA said the promise to write off 90% of councils’ historic DSG deficits was “welcome”. But it “implies that councils will have to manage a residual debt of around £500m while the OBR has forecast that new deficits of £8.7 billion will then accrue over 2026-27 and 2027-28”.
It said government should ensure that “all DSG deficits are written off” ahead of the statutory override ending in March 2028.
The response added that additional funding will be needed “to meet the growing need for home-to-school transport” in the short to medium term, before the impact of reforms is felt.
The LGA is also “calling for the government to commit to reviewing home-to-school transport legislation to make it fit for the 21st century” and reflect realities such as education and training being compulsory to age 18.