Fixing crumbling school buildings must not come at the “expense” of funding special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, the chair of the Commons Education Select Committee has told Tes.
Former schools minister Robin Walker said that, if the aims of the Department for Education’s SEND review are to be achieved, the investment pledged in the previous government spending review must be sustained.
His comments come after a cross-party group of MPs, including Mr Walker, yesterday wrote to the chancellor asking for more funding to tackle the “deepening” crisis in SEND support, ahead of his Autumn Statement mini-budget next month.
The Treasury will also be called upon to help tackle the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis in schools that emerged at the start of this term.
DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood told MPs last month that any funding increase needed for the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) would be the DfE’s first priority when making bids for funding from the Treasury at the next spending review.
SEND funding ‘must be sustained’
Speaking to Tes, Mr Walker acknowledged that the Treasury faced competing priorities but stressed that pledged SEND funding needed to be “sustained”.
He said: “Whilst I appreciate the RAAC issues have meant a focus [on] building safety and maintenance, and I understand there has been [an] agreement between DfE and the Treasury that this will be the first priority for capital in the next spending round, I want to ensure that this doesn’t come at the expense of investment in SEND places and provision.”
At the last spending review in 2022, the DfE had agreed that investment in SEND “needed to be prioritised”, Mr Walker said.
He added: “If the aims of the command paper on ‘the right support in the right place at the right time’ are to be achieved, this investment needs to be sustained.”
The government’s SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published in March following the long-awaited SEND review last year, included creating new national standards in SEND and moving to a digitised system for education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
Analysis by the F40 group of local authorities, which coordinated yesterday’s letter, suggested that an additional £4.6 billion is required each year to meet the growing demand and expectation for high-needs support.
