Funding and provision for children with additional needs

Overview

This consultation is about the goal of a fairer funding system so that schools can provide better support and education for any child. 

The system for supporting children with additional needs in Somerset is under pressure. Similarly to many other areas in the country, there are too many situations arising locally where children’s needs are not being met as quickly as anyone would want, and where arrangements that are being put in place are not having the impact that they should.  

At the same time, the budget designed to pay for meeting additional needs (‘the High Needs budget’) is under enormous pressure. The deficit on the High Needs Block for 2023/24 was £15.1m. The overall deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant (‘DSG’) as at 31 March 2024 is £36.0m and is likely to grow by significantly more than that this year and into the future. At the current rate of increase, that deficit is predicted to grow to £230m by March 2030. 

It is clear changes must be made. The local authority cannot continue to spend ever more money without getting positive outcomes for children from that spending. This consultation is about money, because the evidence is that part of the problem in the system may be due to how money is given out. If money can be spent in a smarter and fairer way, this may result in better outcomes. 

What needs to change? 

Many parents have told us that their preferred goal is having their child attend a local mainstream school where their child flourishes and progresses. However, the ability of mainstream schools to provide for children with additional needs is coming under pressure.  

When mainstream schools struggle or children’s needs go unmet, this can result in a range of consequences: 

• Some children respond to that situation with disruptive behaviour which can culminate in suspension and exclusion. In the latest national data, Somerset was the third highest rate of exclusions for children with SEND and the second highest rate of suspensions in England. 

• Some children have their place in school break down, and this results in them being placed in an independent special school at comparatively high cost. The average annual cost for an independent special school placement is more than 10 times higher than for a mainstream school. Somerset’s budget for independent special school’s places is £20m higher than its budget for mainstream school support. 

• Some children are taken out of school because their needs are not being met and either try and educate them at home or the child accesses something called ‘Education Otherwise than at School’. However, this can put significant pressure on families and sometimes these arrangements are not successful.  

• Some children feel so anxious or unwell at the prospect of attending school that they experience severe non-attendance. Somerset has seen a 22.6% increase in pupils severely absent from school since 2022. 

• When children are not in full-time education this can put extreme pressure on parents’ employment, such that too many parents have felt forced to leave employment in order to ensure that their child is safe and supervised. There are currently around 60,000 people of working age in Somerset who are classed as ‘economically inactive’ because they are not seeking employment. 

• Some children end up taken into care because the pressure on families of not having a successful full-time school place becomes so great that the family no longer feels able to care for their child. Somerset’s children social care budget in 2023/24 was overspent by £11.9m. 

• Some schools can get into serious difficulties and underperformance because of the challenges involved in meeting the breadth of need within the school. The proportion of schools judged inadequate by Ofsted in Somerset is above the national average. 

The solution is to strengthen and support the ability of mainstream schools to deliver excellent education for all children. Feedback from school leaders is that they are very focused on this goal, but that they are facing some important barriers: 

1. Funding – The amount of money being provided to schools, including by the local authority, to pay for the provision that they must deliver within an Education, Health and Care Plan is significantly less than what it actually costs. They can access more money from the local authority currently, but the process is long and complex. 

2. Support – Even if schools have the money, what they need is not always available to buy, and it can be difficult and time-consuming to organise support. 

3. Accountability and reward – The accountability system for schools sometimes rewards schools and trusts that are not inclusive, and provides little to no reward for those who are. 

What is being proposed? 

This consultation contains seven proposals:  

1. Give any school that is educating a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan equivalent funding. 

2. Phase in over time equivalent funding for specific groups of children. 

3. Retain funding centrally for children who need specific services, to make sure that they receive them. 

4. Develop a model of provision to provide stronger support for children who need something other than mainstream education, but that actively supports them to return to mainstream education. 

5. Incentivise schools to be inclusive and disincentivise them to exclude, including financially. 

6. Provide short-term, interim and emergency funding to schools for pupils with additional needs, regardless of whether a plan is in place and without lengthy approvals. 

7. Establish annual timescales each academic year for requesting placement changes and confirming forward funding.

 Funding and provision for children with additional needs – Introduction

Funding and provision for children with additional needs – A short summary