The Government’s £3 billion funding for SEND is met with mixed views

The Government recently announced that it is investing an additional £3 billion to create tens of thousands of new specialist places in mainstream schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It says the money will enable children to have an education close to home by expanding “specialist, calm learning spaces” in mainstream schools, equipped with facilities to support children with SEND, allowing children to mix with other classes for subjects or parts of the day that are appropriate for them.

This will also lay the groundwork for significant future reform of the SEND support system, which will be set out in the Schools White Paper early next year as part of a plan to ensure specialist places in mainstream become a core part of the local school offer in all parts of the country.

The plan will be partly funded by suspending a group of planned free schools, saving an estimated £600 million in the coming years. The remaining £2.4 billion will come from departmental spending outlined in November’s budget.

It is estimated that 50,000 special needs places will be created in mainstream schools, as well as 10,000 in special schools included in the free special school projects.

Concerns about the new SEND funding

However, the news has been met with mixed reactions, with some fearing that the money will now be used to fund councils that will create substandard units in mainstream schools.

Also, as the funding is for capital spending, there are concerns about whether it is sufficient to ensure there are enough teachers and leaders with the right level of specialist training to work with children and young people.

In addition, SEND law charity IPSEA said that investment in specialist units may appear proactive, but it does not address the growing threat to statutory rights signalled in the forthcoming White Paper.

Madeleine Cassidy, Chief Executive, said: “The cancellation of planned special schools poses a real danger that fewer children will secure places in specialist schools they require, and that new units will become siloed, isolated spaces rather than engines of genuine inclusion within mainstream settings.

“We need clarity on how these units will operate, and a national workforce plan to address severe shortages of specialist teachers, educational psychologists and therapists. Such units will only succeed if they provide properly trained staff and genuinely individualised support, as set out in children’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.”

Contact, a charity for families of disabled children, added that the units should respect and protect every child’s right to a mainstream education, while not replacing the role of special schools.

CEO Anna Bird said: “Done well, specialist units have the potential for more young people to feel included in their local school community. However, increasing them without suitable regulations or guidance could lead to them being entirely separate in teaching and location from the mainstream school, segregating pupils with SEN.”

• Further reading: Special Needs Jungle – The £3 billion SEND funding extravaganza: We’ve crunched the numbers so you can ask the right questions

Roadmap for the future

The Local Government Association, however, said it was good that the government is investing in creating specialist places in mainstream schools, so that children can attend their local school with their friends in their local area.

It is also pleased that the Government has confirmed that special schools will be funded, or that councils will be given money to develop their own provision. They want to see the Government implement a single, local funding pot, held by councils, to build appropriate provision quickly and effectively.

It added that it was looking forward to the Government’s Schools White Paper setting out a roadmap to a system that meets children’s needs more quickly and effectively, in their local mainstream school system, where an EHCP is not necessary to get support, with a workforce that has the capacity and right skills.

The National Education Union also said that the investment was welcome news and ought to reduce waiting lists that cause misery and deep anxiety for parents.

Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, said: “Funding  50,000 new places in mainstream and specialist settings will address desperate shortfalls and bottle necks. It is sensible to create specialist places within reach of more families, to reduce travel times and ensure children with SEN can have a place in the right setting for them. Currently children with SEN are having to travel far too great a distance each day,  many aren’t in the right setting and this puts pressure on the education workforce.

“Teachers, leaders and support staff will welcome the additional investment because there is such anxiety about the current gap between what pupils need and what is available.”

This view was confirmed in a recent survey that found that two-thirds of teachers (67%) worry about more pupils with SEND entering mainstream schools without sufficient support, by far the most significant concern raised.

Two-thirds (66%) also expect reforms to have a negative impact on mainstream school teachers, compared to just 7% anticipating positive outcomes. In addition, almost half (48%) expect adverse effects on non-SEND pupils too, compared to only 7% anticipating benefits.

National conversation on SEND

The news follows a series of events across England and online that were open to everyone with a stake in building a better SEND system.

The Department of Education said that the conversation on points and ideas organisations raise will help inform how it shapes the policy in the White Paper. A formal public consultation on some aspects of the SEND plans will also be launched alongside the publication of the Schools White Paper.

Earlier this year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that one in twenty (5.2%) pupils aged under 16 in England have an EHCP, which has almost doubled (from 2.7%) over the last decade. Under current projections, there will also be an extra 220,000 children and young people with EHCPs by 2029.

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Learning Disability Today.

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