Those with an interest in England’s system of support for children and young people with SEND will find that a new report from the National Audit Office (see tinyurl.com/nao-send-19) makes for bleak reading.
According to its findings, the quality of SEND support that children currently receive varies widely across the country, many aren’t receiving help that they’re entitled to, and the system as a whole is increasingly under financial strain.
The background
The NAO estimates that in 2018-19, LAs were given £9.4 billion to spend on supporting pupils with SEND – a 24% share of the £39.3 billion dedicated schools grant allocated to LAs for that year.
As of January this year, 1.3 million pupils were recorded as having SEND, amounting to 14.9% of all pupils. Of that group, 20.6% had complex needs and received legally enforceable entitlements set out in an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Among the 79.4% without EHCPs but identified as requiring SEND support, the most common types of need were speech, language and communication needs, moderate learning difficulties and social, emotional and mental health needs.
The concerns
The NAO observes that 87.5% of all publicly funded pupils with SEND attend mainstream schools, but that some schools are currently being incentivised to become less inclusive. One issue cited in the report is the £6,000 per pupil SEND support threshold that affects ‘schools block’ funding, potentially discouraging schools from admitting SEND pupils with costly support needs.
Another serious concern is the way in which 122 LAs (over 80%) overspent their schools high needs budgets, against the backdrop of a 29% realterms cut in their spending power between 2010 and 2018. The NAO suggests this is largely due to a 20.2% rise in the number of pupils in special schools and alternative provision over roughly the same period. Driving that seems to be a combination of greater parental involvement in where their child attends school, and funding pressures limiting the capacity of LAs to effectively support pupils with high needs.
Whatever the reasons, the upshot has been a rise in LAs transferring funds from their school reserves into their SEND budgets to cover the shortfall. As a result, school reserves held by LAs have dropped by over 80% in four years.
Inspections of 94 local areas by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have further found significant areas of weakness in the SEND support provided by 47 of them. The main factors governing their performance were identified as strength of leadership, the effectiveness of inter-agency working in those areas and the level of engagement with children and parents.
The conclusions
Taken together, the report paints a picture of a system that’s serving some pupils with SEND well and providing them with the support they need, while leaving others – especially pupils with SEND but without an EHCP – exposed to risk.
In its conclusion, the report baldly states that “The system for supporting pupils with SEND is not, on current trends, financially sustainable. Many local authorities are failing to live within their high-needs budgets and meet the demand for support.”
Looking ahead, the NAO’s recommendations for the DfE include reviewing the incentives arising from its existing schools funding and accountability system to encourage mainstream schools to be more inclusive in their admissions. It also proposes that good practice be shared on how mainstream schools can better support SEND pupils without EHCPs, and that the DfE clearly outline when and how public money should be spent on independent provision to support SEND pupils’ needs.
