Agenda item

The Chair welcomed Isos Director, Natalie Parish, to the meeting. Natalie provided the Board with a summary on the findings of the high needs funding research which was commissioned by the Local Government Association in July 2018.

Natalie outlined the aims of the research: Quantifying the current gap between high needs resources and actual spend (including how the high needs block has been supplemented by other funding sources); Understanding what is driving these trends and how local areas are responding; and developing an evidence base to inform discussions between central and local government on meeting the needs of young people with SEND.

The research was approached in three phases: phase one included a baseline review of published data, phase two included an online survey for councils on trends and phase three included detailed work with nine councils to understand pressures and responses in greater detail.

The research found that in the last five years, the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)/SEND statements has risen by 35 percent, the number of children and young people educated in special schools and specialist colleges has grown by 24 percent and the number of permanent exclusions has increased by two thirds.

This means that the average spend is increasing at a faster rate than funding, and if the current trend continues, the average spend against high needs block budget is predicted to go up from £38 million in 2015 to £45 million total by 2019. This has meant that councils have topped-up the high needs block from other sources, but this is having an impact on authorities’ reserves and the net deficit continues to rise. The total deficit by the end of 2019 is predicted to be £450-500 million, excluding school transport.

Two reasons for the increased spend on high needs are: the extension of SEND support to 16-25 year olds and; the increased use of Independent Non-Maintained Special Schools (INMSS) and pressure on maintained special school capacity. Other factors included legislative changes, demographic trends and core funding pressures.

Policy decisions have also had an impact, with mainstream schools no longer being incentivised to be inclusive of children with high needs, while staffing cuts are also impacting on their ability to cater for children with SEND.

Natalie explained that the report makes recommendations on key areas for local attention to help alleviate pressures on councils, but it was also explained that all councils (including those in the best positions) are in danger of running out of resources for high needs spend. This is because councils are being prevented from being able to manage down expenditure, due to 85 percent of funding being spent on places and top-ups which are attached to individual children and young people with EHCPs.

The report sets out recommendations to national government, focussing on how to incentivise mainstream schools to take children with high needs, how to alleviate pressure on local maintained special schools and how the financial impact can be reduced.

Following the presentation, the following points were raised by members:

·         Members welcomed the report and the research that has been taken forward.

·         The board wish to focus on how to incentivise main steam schools to enrol children with high needs. It was noted that this affects school budgets most and there needs to be change in this system.

·         Members agreed to focus on addressing the financial impact of increasing numbers of high-cost placements in INMSS and out of area provision.

·         Regarding local authorities working with partners, authorities need to work not just with schools but other partners, such as the NHS, in order to pursue a whole system approach.

·         It was stated that DfE are conscious of the need for additional funding and the LGA is continuing to work with the Department build the case for adequare resources in the Spending Review this year.

The Chair expressed her gratitude to Natalie Parish from the Isos Partnership for presenting their findings to the Board.

Decision

Members noted the work presented to the Board.