James McInnes: Critical moment for our efforts to care for special needs children

You may have seen news reports about the very stark conclusions of the independent National Audit Office into the care and support of our most vulnerable children.

The report concluded that the current system to support children with special needs and disabilities, known as SEND, is not achieving value for money and is unsustainable.

The report echoes on a national scale what we have been saying to successive governments about the position in Devon.

The report identifies the 2014 Children and Families Act as being one of the core causes of the situation. This had extremely good motives—extending support for young people with SEND from age 16 up to 25. 

But this meant local councils had to care for many more young people, although the government didn't provide anywhere near enough extra resources to enable us to do it.

The Act also introduced education, health, and care plans, or EHCPs, which often specify a need for support in expensive independent provision rather than in our own mainstream or special schools.

The NAO found that demand for EHCPs has increased by 140 per cent since 2015 but that overall government support for children with high needs has only gone up 58 per cent in real terms over the same period.

Our own figures confirm this. Over the last year, the number of active EHCPs in Devon has gone up from 8,707 to 9,382, which accounts for over four per cent of the 0-25 age group.

Of those children under 16, the majority—3,782—are supported in our own mainstream schools, with 1,727 in Devon special schools. But that means 1,283 are in independent schools, which, on average, cost twice as much for each placement as our own schools. 

The NAO report found these changes have increased the cost of the SEND system, but it's still not delivering better outcomes for children and young people or preventing local authorities from facing significant financial challenges. 

So what's the answer? Clearly, pouring more money into a failing system is not going to enable us to fulfil our primary purpose of giving the best quality education, care, and support possible to our most vulnerable children, although the extra money announced in the budget is very welcome ahead of a full-scale review of SEND.

In Devon, we have successfully negotiated a multi-million-pound package of government support for our SEND services, which requires us to put in place a comprehensive improvement programme for our children and their families.

That agreement and this new report fly in the face of the commentary from some opposition councillors that the situation in Devon was unique and the result of bad political management.

Clearly, that's not the case. We have a long way to go in Devon to provide the services that our young people and their families deserve, but the system nationally needs urgent change. 

Given that the current system costs over £10 billion a year and that demand for SEND provision is forecast to continue increasing, I heartily endorse the NAO conclusion that the government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent, including through more inclusive education and identifying and addressing needs earlier in childhood.

My successor as chairman of f40, the national campaign group for the forty lowest-funded education authorities, which includes Devon, also endorsed the NAO report.

Alex Dale said: “We need a whole system overhaul, but we also need fairer funding to ensure all children have access to the same opportunities and resources, regardless of where they live."