What is SEND and how might the system change in England?

London – England's system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is facing a crisis of sustainability, with local council budgets buckling under the weight of soaring demand and escalating costs. The government is now embarking on its most significant overhaul in a decade, aiming to rein in a spiralling deficit that threatens the financial stability of local authorities, while promising a more consistent and effective experience for families. The central tension is clear: balancing a child's legal right to support against the stark economic realities of public funding.

The Current Landscape: A System Under Strain

The framework for SEND support in England was last reformed in 2014. At its heart is the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), a legally binding document for children and young people up to age 25 who require more support than is typically available in a mainstream educational setting.

Local councils hold the statutory responsibility for assessing children's needs and, if an EHCP is granted, ensuring the provision outlined within it is delivered. This places them at the epicentre of the system's operational and financial pressures.

• Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP): A legal document that identifies a child's or young person's specific educational, health, and social care needs. It details the support required to meet those needs and the intended outcomes.

The number of children with EHCPs has exploded in recent years. In January 2023, there were 517,000 children and young people with an EHCP, a 9% increase from 2022 and a figure that has more than doubled since 2015. This surge in demand is the primary driver of the financial crisis gripping the sector.

The Financial "Black Hole"

For local authorities, the funding for high-needs support, primarily for EHCPs, has become a financial black hole. While central government funding has increased, it has failed to keep pace with the exponential growth in both the volume and complexity of children's needs.

This has resulted in massive deficits in councils' high-needs budgets. The County Councils Network estimates that the cumulative deficit for these budgets will reach £3.6 billion by March 2025. This shortfall forces councils to plug the gap from other service budgets, creating a knock-on effect on areas like road maintenance, library services, and adult social care.

• Primary Cost Drivers: The budget overspend is driven by several factors, including the sheer volume of new EHCP applications, a significant increase in children with complex needs requiring intensive support, and a heavy reliance on expensive independent special school placements, which can cost tens of thousands of pounds per child, per year.
• The Cost of Disagreement: When parents and councils disagree on the level of support required, the dispute often ends in a First-tier Tribunal. The number of these appeals has skyrocketed, with a record 11,000 registered in the 2021/22 academic year. Councils lose the vast majority of these cases, incurring significant legal costs and often being ordered to fund costly independent placements.

The Government's Proposed Overhaul

In response to this systemic pressure, the Department for Education (DfE) has published its "SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan." The plan represents a fundamental shift in strategy, moving away from the current, often bespoke system towards one based on national standards, early intervention, and cost containment.

National Standards and Tailored Lists

The cornerstone of the reform is the creation of new national standards for SEND support. The goal is to establish clear expectations for the provision that should be available in every local area, reducing the "postcode lottery" that families currently face.

• Proposed Mechanism: A national framework will set out typical support levels and may include funding bands or tariffs associated with different types of need. This is designed to manage costs and improve consistency.
• Local Inclusion Plans: Councils will be required to develop "Local Inclusion Plans" based on these national standards. As part of this, they will create a "tailored list" of appropriate education settings, steering parents towards local mainstream and special schools rather than more expensive independent placements.

A Focus on Early Intervention

A key pillar of the government's financial strategy is "invest to save." The plan proposes strengthening support within mainstream schools to identify and address needs earlier. The economic logic is that by providing effective support at the first sign of difficulty, fewer children will escalate to the point of needing a high-cost EHCP. This involves upskilling the workforce and ensuring mainstream schools are better equipped to be inclusive.

Reforming the Tribunal Process

To tackle the spiralling legal costs associated with tribunals, the government plans to strengthen mediation. Before a parent can lodge a formal appeal, they will be required to engage in a mediation process with the local authority. The aim is to resolve disputes earlier and less confrontationally, saving significant sums in legal fees and administrative time for both councils and families.

The Road Ahead: Balancing Needs and Budgets

The government is currently testing these reforms in dozens of local authorities through its "Change Programme Partnerships." The findings from these pilots will inform the final shape of the legislation required to enact the changes system-wide.

However, the proposals are not without controversy.

• Council Perspective: Local authorities have cautiously welcomed the focus on financial sustainability and national standards, which they hope will give them greater control over their high-needs budgets.
• Parent and Advocate Concerns: Many parent groups and charities express deep concern that the reforms are primarily a cost-cutting exercise. They fear that "national standards" could become a tool for rationing support and that "tailored lists" will limit parental choice, potentially watering down the legal right for a child's specific needs to be met.

The ultimate test for the government's overhaul will be whether it can create a system that is both financially viable for the taxpayer and successful in delivering the right support, at the right time, for England's most vulnerable children. The path forward involves navigating the profound challenge of aligning statutory duties with fiscal discipline, a balancing act that will define the future of special educational needs provision for years to come.