'Not delivering': Special educational needs system needs urgent reform

Sarah Williams, whose daughter goes to a dedicated SEND school, speaks to ITV News' Lucrezia Millarini after the government spending watchdog says Special Educational Needs in schools are letting families down

The special educational needs system is "financially unsustainable” and in urgent need of reform, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.

In a report published on Thursday, NAO said families and children lack confidence in the special educational needs system due to “insufficient capacity” within schools and longer waiting times to support children.

Thursday's report comes after research shared exclusively with ITV News revealed that councils have already amassed SEND deficits of £4 billion nationwide.

NAO'S report said: “(SEND is) still not delivering better outcomes for children and young people or preventing local authorities from facing significant financial risks.

"DfE (Department for Education) estimates that some 43% of local authorities will have deficits exceeding or close to their reserves in March 2026.

“This contributes to a cumulative deficit of between £4.3 billion and £4.9 billion when accounting arrangements that stop these deficits impacting local authority reserves are due to end. As such, the current system is not achieving value for money and is unsustainable.”

NAO has urged the Government to consider a “whole-system reform” to improve outcomes for children with SEND and put SEND provision on a “financially sustainable footing”.

It added that the DfE should develop a "long-term plan for inclusivity" across mainstream education.

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Although DfE has increased high-needs funding, the SEND system is still not delivering for children and their families, and DfE’s current actions are unlikely to resolve the challenges.“The Government has not yet identified a solution to manage local authority deficits arising from SEND costs, which ongoing savings programmes will not address.”

Kate Foale, SEND spokeswoman for the CCN, said: “With councils continuing to accrue spiralling deficits and demand reaching record levels each year, reform is urgent.“The Government must set out root and branch change to the system within the next 18 months, designing a new way forward with strong input from local authorities, parents and young people.”

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Commenting on the NOA report, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The NAO’s report exposes a system that has been neglected to the point of crisis, with children and families with SEND quite simply being failed on every measure.

“Every child and young person deserves the best life chances and the opportunity to achieve and thrive.

“But at the moment far too few are being given that chance in a system that is too skewed towards specialist provision and over-reliant on EHC plans – often only to the benefit of families who have the resources to fight for support.

“I am determined to rebuild families’ confidence in a system so many rely on – so, there will be no more sticking plaster politics and short-termism when it comes to the life chances of some of our most vulnerable children.

“The reform families are crying out for will take time, but with a greater focus on mainstream provision and more early intervention, we will deliver the change that is so desperately needed.”

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