Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Mandate DfE to provide support for local authorities to manage long-term sustainable SEN spending.
Conclusion
In the longer term, the SEN system remains unviable with piecemeal interventions, such as Safety Valve, doing nothing to provide a financially sustainable system. Based on the Department’s current forecasts on the need for SEN support, the annual gap between funding and forecast costs across local authorities will grow to between £2.9 billion and £3.9 billion in 2027–28. Since 2021, the Department has introduced the ‘Safety Valve’ and ‘Delivering Better Value’ financial support programmes for those local authorities with the worst deficits. However, these do not include all local authorities and will not deliver enough savings, merely acting as a short-term sticking plaster. The Department argues that the situation would be worse without these programmes but also recognises that more needs to be done. Due to a state sector capacity being unable to meet rising demand, local authorities are spending more on costlier independent school placements for children with EHCs - £2 billion in 2022 (46% more than 2018–19) - although the Department wants to rely less on these settings. Home to school transport for children with SEN has seen a 77% real terms cost increase since 2015. The Department needs more granular data so it can work with local authorities to better manage these pressures. 6 recommendation Moving on from its ‘Safety Valve’ programme, the Department must provide specific support and guidance so all local authorities can effectively manage their SEN-related spending sustainably in the longer term. To ensure investment allocation decisions maximise value for money, demand forecasting is vital. This joint work by the Department and local authorities should include differentiating between the number of places to be provided in mainstream and specialist state settings. It should also ensure that any spending on independent schools and transport costs reflects value for money. The Department should work with local authorities to identify ways in which more accountab
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and commits to publishing the Delivering Better Value in SEND toolkit and further detailing SEND system reform plans this year. It also launched new data collection for school transport in February 2025, will publish guidance on transport partnership working soon, and continues to improve demand forecasting data collected since 2023.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. their SEN-related spending sustainably in the longer term, starting with the publication of the Delivering Better Value in SEND toolkit. As set out in the response to recommendation 5 above, plans for reforming the SEND system will be detailed this year, including work with and support for local authorities to effectively manage their SEN-related spending through the transition period to the reformed system. Demand forecasting is vital to ensure investment allocation decisions maximise value for money. In 2023, the Department started collecting forecasts from local authorities on the number of pupils resident in the local authority who are expected to have an EHC plan and who require a place in specialist provision. Work with local authorities to improve the quality of this data will continue. The rising cost of school transport underscores the need for more children to attend a local mainstream school that meets their needs. The department is taking other steps to support local authorities with school transport. A new data collection was launched in February 2025, which will in due course enable local authorities to benchmark their provision against others, enabling them to learn from one another, find efficiencies and support decision making. Guidance for partnership working on school transport will be published soon, and the department is working with MHCLG on local government finance reform.