Increase in SEND pupils will squeeze school budgets further

Following today’s data release from the Department for Education, which revealed that the number of school pupils with special educational needs has risen for the third year in a row, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:
 
“Cash-strapped schools are struggling to support our children with the most complex barriers to learning. Teaching assistants and other support staff are being cut. Conservative cuts to schools and councils mean that more than 9 in 10 councils face a funding shortfall for pupils with high needs, and today’s figures show these budgets will be squeezed further. The Government is failing the children most in need.
 
“Liberal Democrats would reverse school cuts with an emergency cash injection and provide more money for children with the most complex needs, so that every child can get the best start in life.”
 
Today’s data release from the Department for Education, reveals that, in January 2019:

• The number of school pupils with special educational needs has risen to 1.32 million, the highest since 2014
• The number of pupils with a statement or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which gives them a legal entitlement to council-funded support, has risen to all-time high of 271,165

The National Education Union warned in April that the high-needs block, given to local councils to fund pupils aged 0-25 on an EHCP, has risen by 6% in real terms since 2015, whilst the number of pupils with an EHCP rose by 30% over the same period. Consequently, 93% of local authorities now face a shortfall in funding: