SEND pupils at risk of being turned away by schools, councils warn

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are at risk of being turned away by mainstream schools because of a lack of funding, councils say.

In response to the government's consultation on the high needs funding formula for schools, the Local Government Association, which represents over 370 local authorities, has said that the government does not adequately fund SEND children.

As a result of this, the association believes that those with high needs or disabilities could miss out on a mainstream education.

Analysis of Department for Education (DfE) data reveals that in the past four years there has been an increase in the number of pupils with SEND who attend a specialist school, up from 5.6 per cent in 2012 to 8.5 per cent in 2016.

The proportion of pupils in independent schools has moved from 4.5 per cent to 6.3 per cent over the same period.

For a number of years, the High Needs Dedicated Schools Grant has been frozen and has put local budgets under pressure as a result.

According to the association, councils have had to meet the difference by topping up high needs funding from other budgets where necessary.

However, the consultation suggests that this flexibility will no longer be available to local authorities, making it even more difficult to provide children with the support they need.

The Local Government Association is now calling on the government to provide additional funding to meet increasing pressures, to avoid councils being put in an “impossible situation” where they may not be able to fund enough places for those with the highest needs.

Even though the DfE has provided some extra funding since 2015/16, it has been allocated on the basis of the total number of children in an area, rather than any measure of the number of children with complex needs.

The group say that if funds are not allocated, schools may find it difficult to accept or keep pupils with SEND because they “cannot afford to subsidise the provision from their own budgets”.

Councillor Richard Watts, chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said: "The government should provide additional funding to meet this need, otherwise councils may not be able to meet their statutory duties and children with high needs or disabilities could miss out on a mainstream education.

"Whilst the additional funding announced earlier in the year was a step in the right direction, it was never enough to meet the needs of the increasing number of SEND pupils.”

Watts added: ”Councils are doing all that they can to make sure children with SEND get the support and opportunities they need to flourish, but are experiencing increasing demand for all services.”