The bill for special needs education in England has hit £10bn a year, with the number of children and young people entitled to government support in the form of education, health and care plans set to double to 1 million within a decade, a landmark report has found.
The investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that despite record levels of spending there had been no signs of improvement in the lives of children with special educational needs (SEN).
The report said local authorities were being forced towards insolvency by rising demand for special school places and “high-needs” funding for specialists such as therapists, psychologists and teaching assistants.
“Although the Department for Education has increased high-needs funding, the SEN system is still not delivering for children and their families, and DfE’s current actions are unlikely to resolve the challenges,” said Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO.
“The government has not yet identified a solution to manage local authority deficits arising from SEN costs, which ongoing savings programmes will not address. Given that the current system costs over £10bn a year, and that demand for SEN provision is forecast to increase further, government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent, including through more inclusive education, and developing a cohesive whole-system approach.”
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said the system had been “neglected to the point of crisis” by the previous government.
“I am determined to rebuild families’ confidence in a system so many rely on – so there will be no more sticking-plaster politics and short-termism when it comes to the life chances of some of our most vulnerable children,” she said.
“The reform families are crying out for will take time, but with a greater focus on mainstream provision and more early intervention, we will deliver the change that is so desperately needed.”
The NAO report revealed the number of children and young people requiring statutory support – set out in documents known as education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – could soar from 576,000 this year to more than 1 million by 2032-33, according to the Department for Education’s internal forecasts.
Autism spectrum conditions are expected to see the fastest growth, after the number of children diagnosed in England’s state schools shot up from 57,000 in 2015-16 to 132,000 last year.
The report said there was no comprehensive explanation for the sharp increase in autism diagnoses but said factors included greater awareness of the condition and needs, “potentially accelerated” by the impact of Covid, as well as incentives for schools to seek EHCPs for pupils in order to access high-needs funding.
Education leaders and experts said the NAO report showed the system was in crisis, with responsibilities and costs heaped upon councils, schools and families.
Tom Rees, chief executive of the Ormiston academies trust, said: “The NAO’s report is more evidence of the urgent and overdue need for the SEN system to be reformed. The scale of the challenge is significant – this is both the most important and most complex educational reform of the next decade.”
Richard Kramer, the chief executive of Sense, a charity that supports people with complex needs, said the report outlined why families had “totally lost confidence” in the system.
“The toll of trying to navigate this crumbling system can have on families shouldn’t be underestimated,” Kramer said.
“We’ve had parents tell us that they are spending savings put aside for their children’s future before they even start school, and others who end up leaving their own careers to fight for their children’s basic rights.”
The NAO’s analysis came days after warnings by the County Councils Network and the Local Government Association (LGA) that SEN spending deficits were pushing local authorities towards bankruptcy.
The worst-affected councils can currently keep the deficits off their accounts using a statutory override known as a “safety valve”. But the override will expire in March 2026, requiring government intervention before then to avoid savage cuts being forced on councils.
Arooj Shah, the chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “In next week’s budget we are hoping that the government will set out how it will reform and adequately fund the Send [special educational needs and disabilities] system, so children get the support they desperately need.
“In particular, we are hoping this will include writing off all high-needs deficits to ensure councils are not faced with having to cut other services to balance budgets through no fault of their own, or their residents. With councils currently able to keep these off their balance sheets, we have serious concerns that many will face a financial cliff edge, when this flexibility ends in March 2026.”
