Recommendation 21

HM Government Accepted

29.T he Government agrees that close, bilateral working between DLUHC and DfE is important in tackling issues with the cost of SEND provision. The Government seeks to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND and those who need alternative provision, while placing local authorities on a sustainable footing. This will enable local authorities to ensure all young people with SEND receive the support they need, on a sustainable basis. 30. We have been clear that all local authorities must take responsibility for the effective and sustainable management of their high needs systems and associated spending. Many local authorities continue to do just that: work effectively to manage their high needs systems and associated spending in a sustainable way, supported by the high needs budget rising by 60% over five years from 2019-20 (it will increase to £10.5 billion in 2024-25), for the benefit of the children and young people they serve. Around a third of local authorities have no deficit, and some have been contributing to their DSG surpluses in the last two years. 31. However, we recognise that, for some local authorities, there is an urgent need to resolve issues with the sustainability of their high needs systems, and the Government is supporting them to do so. We are focusing our support in two ways: supporting local authorities to make sustainable change at a local level in the short term, whilst developing longer term reform of the national system. 32. At present, DSG deficits are ringfenced from local authorities’ wider financial position to give local authorities the short-term flexibility to implement sustainable change at a local level. This ringfence, reinforced by Government’s longer-term reform plans and substantial increases in high needs funding, will remain in place up to March 2026. 38 local authorities with the highest deficits now have Safety Valve agreements which, if delivered by the individual authorities, will see them deliver a sustainable high needs system and eradicate their deficits. These agreements set out the realistic and achievable steps that authorities can take at a local level to manage their budgets sustainably, and eliminate their DSG deficits, supported by around £1 billion of additional funding, and bespoke, expert support for each authority. 33. 55 local authorities have been working with the Government through the Delivering Better Value in SEND (DBV) programme and developing plans to reform their systems to reach a sustainable footing. Like the Safety Valve programme, this programme seeks to develop individualised local plans for sustainability, including grants and expert help. 34.T he Government has also published a research report and accompanying guidance, drawing on good practice in local authorities, and the Department for Education’s ongoing intervention work. We encourage every local authority to consider the guidance in full, regardless of their deficit position, and apply the advice in the most suitable way to their local context.