The number of children and young people with special educational
needs and disabilities (SEND) receiving support from councils has
reached a record high, new figures published today reveal.
Councils issued 84,428 Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs),
which set out the provision of SEND support for each person, in
2023 – an increase of 26.6 per cent on the previous year. The
number has risen each year since 2014.
As of January 2024, there are now 575,963 children and young
people with an EHCP.
Requests for an assessment have also increased by 20.8 per cent
since the previous year.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils, says
the rising need and cost pressures make it imperative that
whoever forms the next government reforms the SEND system.
The increase in EHCPs is also driving escalating costs of
home-to-school transport for children with SEND, with budgets up
by 23.3 per cent in 2023/24 compared to the previous year.
Budgeted net spend in 2023/24 is £1.4 billion – a 137 per cent
cash terms increase since 2016/17.
The LGA is calling for an improvement to mainstream inclusion of
children with SEND, as well as the scrapping of the high needs
deficits councils have built up because of the spiralling costs
of providing support outstripping the SEND budgets available to
councils. These currently stand at an estimated £1.9 billion.
Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association's
Children and Young People Board, said:
“Councils want to be able to provide the very best support to
children with special educational needs and their families.
“However, these record figures are a reminder of the huge
pressure councils are under, with the number of EHCPs increasing
every year since they were introduced in 2014.
“It is absolutely vital whoever forms the next government brings
forward proposals without delay to reform the SEND system, with a
focus on improving levels of mainstream inclusion, as well as
write off councils' high needs deficits.”
Notes to editors
-
DfE data on Education,
Health and Care Plans for 2024
- The LGA's Local Government White
Paper sets out how a reset relationship between central and
local government is the only way whoever forms the next
government can tackle the challenges facing the country. It
includes analysis showing councils in England face a funding gap
of £6.2 billion over the next two years.
- Our dedicated General Election hub
sets out the key commitments in the Conservative, Green, Labour
and Liberal Democrat national manifestos relevant to local
government.
