Schools may be expected to do more to support vulnerable pupils as councils struggle to address major funding gaps, documents seen by Tes reveal.
Measures being taken by local authorities could result in schools sharing the costs of exclusions, taking on more pupils from alternative provision and more clearly demonstrating why they need emergency funding for students with special educational needs and disabilities.
The moves are set out in recovery plans submitted to the Department for Education by 32 local authorities after they posted a cumulative deficit of 1 per cent or more in their main schools’ budget at the end of 2018-19.
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The plans, obtained by Tes under freedom of information requests, revealed many councils’ plans to cut spending across a range of SEND services.
For example, Hammersmith and Fulham planned to reduce the money it spends on home tuition for children who are too unwell to attend school, those whose school placement has broken down and those who have moved to the area with high-level SEND and no school placement.
Funding pressure: vulnerable pupils
Meanwhile, Dorset council had planned to save nearly £1 million a year by asking schools to pay for half the costs of temporary exclusions and reducing the number of permanent exclusions. However, having received extra money from the DfE, the authority now says this plan is under review.
In Salford, there was a plan to put more onus on schools to “clearly demonstrate” SEND funding pressures when requesting financial support from the local authority, above the amount they are technically owed.
Many areas planned to reduce alternative-provision places and move more pupils into mainstream settings.
Some also planned to open special free schools to reduce reliance on independent sector provision.
The plans were submitted before the DfE announced that schools would receive an extra £7.1 billion over three years, including £780 million for SEND in 2020-21.
But a spokeswoman for Hammersmith and Fulham said the council’s recovery plan had not changed as a result of the extra money. She highlighted the cost pressure coming from the local authority’s high-needs budget, which supports pupils with complex needs. This had come about “largely because of the mismatch between the amount of money we receive and the demand locally for services”, she said.
Other local authorities were contacted for comment.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government has announced the biggest funding boost for schools in a decade which will give every school more money for every child. This means that every school in the country can see per-pupil funding rise in line with inflation next year. To suggest otherwise is simply misleading.
“All secondary schools will receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil next year, while all primary schools will get a minimum of £4,000 from 2021-22 - with the biggest increases going to the schools that need it most.
“We’re investing a total of £14 billion more in schools over the next three years to give schools, teachers and parents the certainty to plan, improve standards and ensure all children get the top-quality education they deserve.”
