Government unveils £740 million funding boost to improve support for pupils with SEND – school leaders respond
by Educate Magazine December 5, 2024 · All News / Education News
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that thousands of pupils are to benefit from a £740 million cash injection from the government to ‘pave the way’ for more pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream schools.
This new funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, and to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, according to the department.
It will start to support the government’s broader long-term plans for reform aimed at helping more pupils with SEND have their needs met in mainstream schools
The government said that in-order to drive support for neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education and increase understanding of inclusion, Professor Karen Guldberg has been appointed as chair of a new ‘Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group’ – a group of experts that will work alongside the DfE to drive inclusive education.
Professor Guldberg brings a wealth of experience from her background as the director of the Autism Centre for Education and research and head of the School of Education at the University of Birmingham.
Last month, the National Audit Office highlighted the crisis in the SEND system, with very limited progress having been made in making mainstream schools more inclusive in recent years, harming children’s life chances.
In response, the government has confirmed it will not enter any more of its Safety Valve agreements for councils in financial deficits, pending wider reform of the whole system to prioritise early intervention, and provide better support for councils to bring their finances under control.
Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, said: “The current picture is stark. For too long, too many children with additional needs haven’t been getting support early enough, with dire consequences when issues escalate.
“But my commitment to reform – making tangible change to the SEND system to improve experiences for children and families – could not be clearer, and building a system where more children with SEND can attend mainstream schools is central to our plans.
NAHT said: “We’ve long highlighted that there simply isn’t enough capacity in either mainstream or special schools to offer all children with additional needs the support they deserve.
“Mainstream schools in particular often lack the essential facilities needed at a time when they are they are trying to cater for increasing numbers of pupils for whom there is simply not space in special schools.
“This is a legacy of the failure by previous governments to provide anything like enough investment to meet increasing demand over the last decade.
“While this funding will be welcomed by mainstream schools, it must be just the beginning of sustained investment not only in specialist facilities, and increased special school places, but also support for children with special educational needs and the professionals who provide this.
“That must mean reforms backed by a huge injection of new funding over this Parliament to tackle the current postcode lottery and ensure pupils with similar needs can access equitable and sufficient provision, irrespective of where they live or whether they attend a mainstream or special school. We also want to see local authority ‘high needs’ deficits written off and action to address workforce shortages affecting vital roles like educational psychologists and speech and language therapists.”
