The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is broken and does not work for councils, schools and parents alike, according to a new independent report commissioned by the County Councils Network and the Local Government Association.
The report by Isos Partnership found that although councils are projected to spend £12 billion on SEND services by 2026, up from £4 billion a decade ago, educational outcomes for this group of children have not approved over the last decade.
Councils are now calling on the new government to reform the system over the next 18 months, delivering its manifesto pledge to ensure mainstream schools become more inclusive.
The authors say that the findings are based on substantial engagement with councils, schools, health partners, young people and parents and shows how councils are struggling to cope with a more than doubling of children on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Yet, the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA), which supports families with advice and information as they negotiate the SEND system for an assessment, say that calls in the report for a new, independent, non-judicial mechanisms for dealing with disagreements about decision-making was not the right way forward.
It said they were concerned that this report doesn’t convey the risk to children and young people’s statutory rights if this ‘blueprint for reform’ were to be accepted. It adds that the children’s sector should be working together to strengthen and uphold rights, not accept their removal.
The chief executives of the Lead Disabled Children’s Partnership organisations also issued a joint statement that said taking away families’ legal rights would only risk more children and their families being failed.
It added: “This is because these rights are an essential safeguard when nothing else has worked. What Government should do is give schools the right skills and enough money to be able to support the 1.7 million children in England with special educational needs. Until they do that, thousands of children will fail to learn and many will be unable to go to school at all.”
Currently, there are half a million more children and young people are now identified as having special educational needs and a further 1.2 million children in schools are identified as requiring SEN support below the level of a statutory EHCP, up from 990,000 in 2015.
The report found that autistic students and pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, or speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) account for 88% of the total increase in pupils with EHCPs between 2015/16 and 2023/24.
Since 2014/15, there has been an increase of 60% in the numbers of children and young people in state-funded special schools and a rise of 132% in the number placed in independent and non-maintained special schools. In total 185,000 pupils with an ECHP were in special schools in 2024, up from 109,000 in 2015.
For local authorities, the costs to the high needs block of a maintained specialist school placement are £25,000 per year, with an independent placement costing £58,500. This is compared to £8,200 for placing a child with an EHCP in a mainstream school.
Yet despite the costs, the report reveals that children with EHCPs have seen performance flatline, or decline, across key educational milestones over the past decade. At the end of primary school in 2022/23, only 8% of children and young people with EHCPs achieved the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics – exactly the same percentage who achieved that level in 2016/17. At the other end of the age spectrum, only 30% of young people with EHCPs achieved Level 2 by age 19 compared with nearly 37 per cent who achieved this level in 2014/15.
In addition, the report added that despite bespoke ‘Safety Valve’ financial support for some councils, transfers from mainstream school budgets and use of councils reserves all projected to total around £1 billion between 2019 and 2026, new analysis shows cumulative deficits currently stand £3.2 billion this year and are projected to rise to £5 billion by 2026.
The National Autistic Society said that the report paints a bleak but clear picture of a system that is failing children with special educational needs – many of whom are autistic.
Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns added: “This is a chronically underfunded system, lacking the right support and understanding. We must bring an end to families experiencing stressful fights to get the right support that their children need and deserve. Autistic children missing out on the education they need causes distress for them and their families, and does untold damage to their future. The Government must act now or autistic children will continue to be left behind.
“We are calling on the Government to urgently set out their plans for SEND reform with a focus on improving inclusivity and capacity in mainstream schools, so all autistic children have a school place that is suitable for their needs.”
In 2022, the previous government published its ‘SEND Improvement Plan’, designed to reform services and curtail costs. However, eight in 10 research participants surveyed as part of the report stated they disagreed (47 per cent) or strongly disagreed (36%) that the improvement plan would address the fundamental challenges in the system.
Instead, the report argues there is a ‘strong consensus’ for a more radical programme of reform, one focused on meeting the needs of more SEND children in mainstream education. It argues that currently many mainstream schools, early years settings and colleges lack the capacity, resources, and in some cases, the expertise to meet the needs of many SEND children, resulting in more parents seeking ECHPs and an over reliance on special school placements.
The report recommends the new government invests in building capacity in mainstream schools to meet children’s needs, such as therapists, educational psychologists, and wider inclusion support, helping to reduce the reliance on specialist school places. It also recommends resetting the vision and guiding principles of the SEND system towards inclusion, prevention and earlier support which would cater for young people who do not have a statutory plan, with such plans reserved for the most complex cases.
Cllr Tim Oliver, CCN Chairman, said: “The SEND system is broken. Wide-ranging reform in 2014 was well intentioned but a decade on, it has created a system that does not work for councils, schools and parents alike. Parents often feel they struggle to access schools’ services, lack the capacity to support pupils, and councils have seen a doubling in needs over the last ten years, and have amassed deficits that threaten their financial solvency. Most importantly, education outcomes and employment opportunities have not improved for children with SEND.
“As this landmark report shows, the case for reform is unquestionable. With a new government in place and elected on a ‘change’ platform, it is vital that reform happens over the next 18 months. The government should build on this report’s clear recommendations and work with local government to create a system that is sustainable for councils and schools and works better for parents and pupils.”
