The government are being accused of failing children who have special educational needs after a report found funding for pupils had been cut by 17% across England since 2015.
A report by thinktank IPPR North also revealed the north had been worst affected with cuts of 22% per pupil. Researchers found government spending on support for children and young people with the most complex special education needs and disabilities (SEND) had failed to keep pace with high demands; this resulted in a reduction in funds available per pupil. The report also found the cuts to educational and local government budgets had led to a dramatic reduction in support for children with less complex needs.
The current funding for schools and colleges was “nowhere near enough” to be able to provide support that children and young people with SEND needed.
1,000 councillors in England wrote to the education secretary, Damian Hinds, urging to give schools extra funding. The councillors wanted to end spending cuts and increase SEND funding.
The report’s author, Jack Hunter, said: “The chancellor has declared austerity to be ‘over’, and yet the crisis in funding for schools and colleges is only getting worse. Cuts to overall education budgets have left many without the support they need, particularly in the north, and have driven up demand for intensive SEND provision. Despite emergency government funding announced in December, the current funding settlement is nowhere near enough.
“This is a moral failure but it is also a failure to recognise the economic benefits of upfront investment in young people’s futures. For example, supporting one person with a learning disability into employment could increase their income by between 55% and 95%, and reduce lifetime costs to the taxpayer by at least £170,000.”
The children and families minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “We have increased high needs funding for children and young people with the most complex SEND from £5bn in 2013 to more than £6bn this year.
“However, we recognise that local authorities have been facing cost pressures on high needs budgets, which is why, in December, we allocated an additional £250m in high needs funding on top of increases we had already promised – £67.7m of this funding has been allocated to local authorities in the north. We have also approved bids for 37 new special schools spread across the country.”
