Dec 7, 2024, Schools Week: £740m [$940M] earmarked to create SEND places in mainstream
The government has earmarked £740 million of capital funding to create more specialist SEND places in mainstream schools.
Ministers have also announced they will not enter into any new “safety valve” agreements with councils struggling with big high needs deficits, warning the scheme “has not been effective enough across the board given the scale of the challenge”.
The capital cash, which forms part of the £6.7 billion [$8.5B] in capital funding for 2025-26 allocated in October’s budget, “can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND”.
It can also be used to create “specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs”, the Department for Education said.
The last government allocated over £2.6 billion [$3.3B] over four years to create more specialist places in both special and mainstream schools.
However, analysis by Special Needs Jungle found that of the places created by the old grant, 68 per cent were in special schools, 17 per cent in mainstream units and resource bases and 9 in mainstream schools.
The DfE has confirmed that the funding can also be spent on creating places in special schools. It is not clear if they will introduce any new rules or guidance to incentivise councils to spend the money on mainstream provision.
Funding allocations will be confirmed in the spring, “alongside the publication of guidance outlining how councils can use this investment to improve local mainstream provision”, government said.
It comes as councils and academy trusts wait to find out if promised new free schools will go ahead.
Although special free schools are not officially under review like 44 mainstream projects, councils have reported being told their new builds have been “called in”, and ministers have said they will be subject to “value for money” checks.
‘The current picture is stark’
The DfE said the funding “will start to pave the way for the government’s wide-ranging long-term plans for reform to help more pupils with SEND to have their needs met in mainstream schools”.
Education secretary 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.”
No more safety valve deals
The government also announced today it won’t sign any more safety valve deals with struggling councils, “pending wider reform of the whole system to prioritise early intervention, properly supporting councils to bring their finances under control”.
Under the scheme, 38 councils with the biggest deficits in their spending on pupils with special educational needs have been promised bailouts totalling more than £1 billion.
But Schools Week revealed earlier this year that more than a third of councils with safety valve deals faced bankruptcy.
The DfE said today that the programme “has not been effective enough across the board given the scale of the challenge”.
“We will continue to work with local authorities with safety valve agreements to deliver their plans.”
Chair of neurodivergence group appointed
The DfE has also announced that Professor Karen Guldberg has been appointed as chair of a new “neurodivergence task and finish group”. It will work alongside the department to drive inclusive education.
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”.
She said she was “honoured to be leading a group of experts who are all committed to supporting the development of a more inclusive education system”. . . .
“Our focus will be to advise and make recommendations regarding the best ways to support and meet the educational needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream settings.
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