“These findings drive home the need to urgently reform the SEND system. Despite spending on SEND massively increasing over the last decade, the educational attainment of children with SEND has failed to improve, while councils continue to build up huge deficits related to SEND spending.
Responding to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, showing spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is expected to more than double in real terms between 2015 and 2028, Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said:
“These findings drive home the need to urgently reform the SEND system. Despite spending on SEND massively increasing over the last decade, the educational attainment of children with SEND has failed to improve, while councils continue to build up huge deficits related to SEND spending.
“The Government must ensure the upcoming Schools White Paper sets out a programme of reform that boosts inclusion in mainstream schools and write off councils’ high needs deficits to help stabilise councils’ finances.
“With promoting inclusion a core part of the Government’s Best Start in Life agenda, it should also ensure there is greater inclusivity in the early years.”