Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) which states that the special educational needs system is financially unsustainable.
“This report confirms what everyone working in education is only too aware of – that the system for supporting pupils with special educational needs is at crisis point. Funding has simply not kept pace with rising demand and is wholly insufficient to meet needs. This is resulting in delays in assessment and the provision of support to the most vulnerable children. There are also not enough places in special schools to meet demand, and commissioned place funding has remained static for more than a decade.
“The NAO is right to point out that systems put in place to improve financial sustainability, such as the Safety Valve programme and Delivering Better Value, are not alleviating the problem and deficits are continuing to rise. We’ve surely now reached the point where these deficits must be written off and funding directed to where it will make the biggest difference to the lives of children and young people.
“We agree with the need to develop a vision and long-term plan for inclusivity across mainstream education, as it is clear that the SEND and AP Improvement Plan is not sufficient to make changes of the scale required.”