A major new independent report on services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has found that the current system is not working for families, schools and councils, underlining the need for fundamental reform.
The Isos Partnership report, commissioned by the LGA and the County Councils Network (CCN), also reveals that educational outcomes for SEND pupils have not improved since changes introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014.
The act extended the SEND system from birth to age 25, and implemented a new approach intended to join up education, health and care support.
Councils say the need for reform of the SEND system is now “unavoidable”, with the report showing services at breaking point.
They are calling on the Government to set out SEND reforms over the next 18 months, delivering its manifesto pledge to ensure mainstream schools become more inclusive.
The report – ‘Towards an effective and financially sustainable approach to SEND in England’ – also sets out how councils are struggling to manage a more than doubling of children on education, health and care plans, within a system that creates “perverse incentives” to shift responsibility between public bodies and inadvertently creates adversarial relationships between local authorities and parents.
It warns that, unless the system is fundamentally reformed, outcomes for children and young people with SEND will not improve, and the system will become even more financially unviable for councils.
The report estimates that councils are projected to be spending £12 billion a year on SEND services by 2026 – up from £4 billion a decade ago – but will still face a £5 billion funding black hole to meet demand that year.
Cllr Louise Gittins, LGA Chair, said: “What parents and children need and deserve is a properly reformed and funded SEND system that meets the care and support requirements of every child and young person with special needs.”
Cllr Tim Oliver, CCN Chairman, said: “The SEND system is broken. With a new government in place and elected on a ‘change’ platform, it is vital that reform happens over the next 18 months.”