‘No urgency’ in DfE to tackle SEND ‘emergency’, MPs warn

Ministers have been told to take urgent action to tackle a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) “emergency”, with plans needed to develop an inclusive education system and prevent nearly half of councils in England from declaring effective bankruptcy.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee warned today that a generation of children could leave school without receiving the help they need if action is not taken to address the crisis.
And the committee of MPs criticised the Department for Education for lacking urgency, after officials appeared before the committee to answer questions, and for lacking a long-term plan to deliver change.
A report from the committee, published today, says too many families are struggling to access the help their children with SEND “desperately need”.
It highlights “long waiting times” for assessments and support, an increase in the number of parents who are appealing education, health and care plan (EHCP) decisions via tribunals and the fact that 98 per cent of these cases find in parents’ favour.
MPs’ recommendations to tackle SEND crisis
Here are five key recommendations that the committee makes in its report:
1. Address council finance problem urgently
Ministers have been told that a plan is needed to ensure that almost half of councils do not face effective bankruptcy within 15 months.
A statutory override is currently keeping deficits on SEND spending off council books, but this is due to expire in March next year.
The committee report warns that this would currently lead to nearly half of the local education authorities in England having to declare effective bankruptcy.
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The report notes that DfE officials could not provide any potential solution to this when questioned by MPs.
The committee calls on the government to develop a plan by no later than March 2025 for “a fair and appropriate solution” for when the override ends.
2. Explain the vision for inclusive education
The committee also warns that the DfE has not made clear what it means by inclusive education or how it will be achieved, despite it being a core part of the government’s approach to improving SEND outcomes.
The report adds: “It has not defined or set out what inclusive education should look like, or provided specific funding for inclusivity, despite this being at the heart of its approach.”
MPs call on the DfE to set out in the next six months what inclusive education means and looks like, and to clarify the provision that children with SEND should expect.
The committee adds that this should include the level of resourcing to ensure support for children with SEND and “the maintenance of educational provision for other children in the same setting”.
And it says the department should also set out how inclusive education will be achieved, including through earlier identification of SEND and improved teacher training and continuous development. The DfE should also state how schools will be held to account.
3. Understand why demand has risen
MPs say that, within the next six months, the DfE must work with the Department of Health and Social Care to better understand the reasons behind the increasing and changing demand for SEND support.
It should then set out how it will provide support more efficiently, such as through group support, identifying needs earlier and ensuring that special schools reflect value for money.
The report warns that “without fully understanding why demand for support has increased, the department’s ability to provide value for money is undermined”.
It notes that, over the past decade, demand for EHCPs has soared. In January 2024 there were 576,000 children with EHCPs, a 140 per cent increase compared with 2015.
A further 1.14 million were receiving SEND support in schools, up by 14 per cent since 2015.
4. Devise a plan for measuring progress
The report also warns that the department will be not be able to make the fundamental reforms needed without a clear, costed plan to measure progress, which MPs say is lacking.
The report adds: “To do this it needs a clear vision of what an inclusive education would look like, better data to target funding, and to deliver a system where all those with critical roles work together.”
MPs recommend that the department urgently improves its data, and then uses this information “to develop a new fully costed plan for improving the SEN system, with concrete actions, and clear interdependencies, alongside metrics to measure outcomes”.
5. Long-term change needed to make the system viable
The committee warns that in the longer term, the SEND system remains unviable. It says that piecemeal interventions, such as the government’s Safety Valve programme providing funding to councils with the highest SEND deficits, are doing nothing to provide a financially sustainable system.
The report adds that the forecast gap between SEND funding and spend will grow to between £2.9 billion and £3.9 billion in 2027-28.
It says that, moving on from its Safety Valve programme, the government should provide “specific support and guidance so all local authorities can effectively manage their SEN-related spending sustainably in the longer term”.
This joint work by the DfE and local authorities should include differentiating between the number of places to be provided in mainstream and specialist state settings, according to the report, which also calls on the DfE to ensure that any spending on independent schools and transport costs reflects value for money.
‘Drawing a line in the sand’
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said today’s report must serve as a line in the sand for the government.
“Urgent warnings have long been issued to government on the failing SEND system from every quarter. This is an emergency that has been allowed to run and run,” he said.
“Families in need of help have been forced to spend precious energy fighting for the support they are legally entitled to, and local authorities to bear an unsustainable financial burden.”
The fact that 98 per cent of cases taken to tribunal find in favour of families is “staggering”, he added.
“It is long past time the government took action matching the gravity of this situation. And yet our inquiry found no sense of urgency amongst officials to do so,” Sir Geoffrey said.
Schools minister Catherine McKinnell said: “The system we’ve inherited has been failing families with SEND children for far too long - this is unacceptable and that’s why we set out our Plan for Change to ensure no child is left behind.
“These problems are deep-rooted and will take time to fix but we remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver the change that exhausted families are crying out for by ensuring better earlier intervention and inclusion.
“We are already making progress by investing £1 billion into SEND, £740 million for councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools and through our Curriculum and Assessment Review which will look at barriers that hold children back from the best life chances.”
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