Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 2
1st Report - Support for children and young people with special educational needs
Published 15 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Support for children and young people with special educational needs All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Without fully understanding why demand for support has increased, the Department’s ability to provide value for money is undermined. Over the last decade, demand for EHC plans has soared. In January 2024, there were 3 576,000 children with EHC plans, a 140% increase since 2015. A further 1.14 million were receiving SEN support in schools, up by 14% since 2015. This encompasses large increases in certain needs, including autistic spectrum disorders, but the Department could do more to better understand the reasons behind increasing demand. The Department considers that identifying and supporting SEN needs earlier could reduce demand and be more cost effective. It also plans to provide support to cohorts of pupils in the areas of fastest-rising demand, making funding less dependent on agreeing individual plans. The Department has not yet explained how it will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of special schools but has started to compare outcomes for children with similar needs in state special and mainstream schools. recommendation Within the next six months, the Department must work with the DHSC to better understand the reasons for increasing and changed demand for SEN support, and then set out how it will provide support more efficiently, such as through group support, identifying needs earlier and ensuring special schools reflect value for money.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 1st Report - Support for children and young people with special educational needs (HC 353), 15 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report for Committee's 1st Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the First report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the seven recommendations, but says it cannot commit to the six-month timescales on inclusive education and demand, or to setting out plans on local authority finances by March 2025.
- On variation in SEN identification and support, the government agrees, with a target implementation date of April 2026, and says work "in the next 12 months will continue" to identify and disseminate good practice from better-performing local authorities.
- On demand and inclusive education, the government agrees but states that it "cannot commit to setting out plans in the next six months"; it will "set out further detail later this year".
- On local authority deficits, the government agrees the matter is urgent but "has been unable to set out plans by March 2025". Its SEND reform plans, to be set out "in further detail in 2025", will "inform any decision to remove the statutory override".
- On health, the government says ICBs are legally responsible for SEND duties and that decisions are "taken locally". It will publish the NHS 10 Year Plan in spring 2025 and a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025.