Briefings and responses

Local government has a central role to play in tackling a number of issues facing young people, and supporting them to live the lives they want to lead.

Children should be supported to get the best, not just to get by. It is however increasingly challenging to turn this ambition into a reality when the financial pressures are forcing an increasing number of councils to make difficult decisions about the allocation of limited resources.

We are calling on the Government to extend the supplementary funding for MNS into 2020/21 to provide certainty to providers while a sustainable solution is found as part of the Spending Review.

The average annual cost to a council of a special needs placement in 2017/18, was £6,000 per pupil per year in a mainstream school, compared with £23,000 per pupil per year in a maintained special school, and £40,000 per pupil per year in an independent or non-maintained special school.

The ability of councils to provide the support needed to all carers, is undermined by the funding to councils and the impact on social care budgets, coupled with increasing demands and increasing costs. We are calling on the Government to use the upcoming Spending Review to fund the £3.1 billion shortfall facing children’s services by 2024/25.

As providers seek to offer children spaces within the current funding constraints, there is a risk to provision for disadvantaged two-year-old children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), for whom provision is more expensive.

"We remain concerned that the introduction of the NFF, combined with changes to High Needs Funding, will exacerbate existing shortfalls in funding to support children and young people with SEND."

Councils are particularly concerned about the proposed changes to high needs funding which will reduce council and school flexibility to make additional funding available where there are rising demand pressures for SEND support.

The funding pressures facing schools are well known, with teacher and parent-led campaigns continuing to receive extensive coverage in the media. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates schools will see a real terms cut of 4.6 per cent in schools funding between 2015 and 2019

Local government leaders support the national funding formula but are clear that setting 22,000 school budgets on a ‘one size fits all’ national formula decided remotely in Whitehall will not work.