Will the government's new SEND funding be effective?

Education estates specialist Nikola Idle looks at whether the government’s announcement on SEND (Special educational needs and disabilities) funding will help schools provide better educational opportunities for all students.

“The news that the government will be providing £740m of funding to make mainstream facilities suitable for SEND students will be welcomed by schools around the country.

The money will be available to adapt existing school buildings to make them more accessible, from adapting classrooms and buildings to constructing new units that can deliver more intensive support for children with learning difficulties and help keep them in mainstream settings.

Schools are facing intensive pressures on their budgets, with aging buildings and maintenance backlogs adding to pressures from high energy prices, inflation and payroll costs, and therefore they don’t always have the funding available to create the truly inclusive environments that would best meet the needs of all their pupils.

A recent report by the National Audit Office identified that there’s been a significant increase in the number of children identified as having special educational needs, with demand for education, health and care (EHC) plans jumping by 140% since 2015. However, despite the annual budget for SEN rising by 58% in a decade to £10.7bn, this is not leading to better outcomes for children with SEN. The additional money provided is simply not enough, and it’s often spent to solve immediate pressures, rather than being used strategically to support longer-term plans.

Yet, despite the challenges, the government’s recent budget commitment (of which this is the first of what many hope will be a series of specific interventions) does provide some optimism for the future if the money is used wisely. We’ve worked with several local authorities who’ve made smart use of their current budgets to improve the provision for their SEND students in line with their sufficiency and inclusion strategies.

We’re currently assisting a local authority who are creating new capacity for SEND students within existing schools. Following the completion of a SEND sufficiency strategy, the council identified the extent of their predicted shortfall in SEND places, and realised establishing new special schools alone would now solve the problem. The area had a need for more variety of learning environments to meet the diverse needs of all pupils. By reviewing their current assets (education and other), and the existing utilisation of space, they were then able to plan for the future, from modifying existing classrooms and building extensions, to using Modern Methods of Construction to build new facilities offsite. Several schemes have already been completed this year, and more are in progress, with pupils already benefitting from new facilities and improved opportunities.

We’ve also supported another local authority which has over a fifth of its students with an EHC plan. We helped review their existing estates and create a SEND strategy which looked at where they wanted to be, and how they could reach their objectives. They’re now on target to create 100 additional SEND places on mainstream sites by the end of 2026, and are developing their outreach services and provision for specific SEND needs.

The common factor behind these two success stories? They’ve both made robust plans to ensure the limited budget they have is spent to the greatest effect to meet the specific needs of their existing and future cohorts. Let’s hope the hundreds of millions the government are providing are awarded to organisations who have workable strategies in place, and who can ensure they can get the maximum benefit to create the inclusive environments all pupils deserve.”

Discover our top tips and lessons learned on how to create your SEND strategy.