Transforming Schools for Special Educational Needs Pupils with £740 million Investment?
The UK Government has announced a significant investment of £740 million to adapt school buildings in England, aiming to make them more accessible for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This funding is part of a larger £6.7 billion of education spending in the recent budget.
However, the effectiveness of this investment for pupils with SEND may be limited due to the scale of need and the high costs of specific adaptations like lifts. The demand for SEND support has seen a dramatic rise, with a 71% increase in children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) since 2018. This surge in demand puts substantial financial pressure on local authorities responsible for making these adaptations.
Councils have warned that SEND costs represent an existential threat to their financial sustainability, with many at risk of insolvency if special needs debts were fully accounted for on their balance sheets. Adaptations in schools, such as installing lifts or creating fully accessible environments, are typically costly. Given the scale of the rising SEND population and the complexity of necessary changes, the £740m fund will likely cover only a fraction of required improvements, especially across all schools in England.
The needs of SEND pupils should be at the heart of all decisions regarding the use of this funding. The impact of the £740m funding will depend on how quickly it becomes available, how it is distributed, and what schools use it for. The government aims to ensure more SEND pupils remain in mainstream education, but the costs for these adaptations, especially for buildings that were not originally designed to be accessible, can be substantial and may quickly exceed available budgets.
The funding will also be used to create SEN units that will deliver more intensive specialist support. The new investment is the equivalent of just over £30,000 per school, which may seem substantial, but when considering the costs of specific adaptations and the rising demand, it appears insufficient to comprehensively address the scale of need for pupils with SEND across England.
Mark Arnold, Director of Additional Needs Ministry at Urban Saints, has blogged about the potential impact of the £740m funding on schools for SEND pupils. A headteacher of a school in West Yorkshire mentioned in a BBC report stated that the school recently spent £10,000 on building adaptations, making a "big dent" in its budget. A recent BBC report titled 'Special Educational Needs System 'Has Burst'' highlights the need for this change.
The UK Government's Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has expressed the desire to reform the SEND system, with a focus on enabling SEND pupils to attend a school nearer to where they live. Despite the challenges, the new funding is welcomed as help that schools and parents have been seeking. The broken lift's implications are serious, with one wheelchair-using pupil having to go outside and through car parks to reach some classrooms.
In summary, while the funding will provide some relief and enable some necessary adaptations, given the sharp rise in SEND needs and high costs of essential adjustments like lifts, £740 million appears insufficient to comprehensively address the scale of need for pupils with SEND across England. The needs of these pupils must remain at the forefront of any decisions regarding the use of this funding.
[1] Mark Arnold's blog, The Additional Needs Blogfather, provides further insights on this topic.
The UK Government's investment of £740 million for education-and-self-development of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is part of policy-and-legislation aimed at improving access to schools, but the costs of specific adaptations like lifts might outweigh the available budget, highlighting the need for further funding. The rising demand for SEND support and the complexities of necessary changes in general-news have put substantial financial pressure on local authorities, making learning accessible for all a crucial issue in politics.
