Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that special educational need reforms focused on early intervention and provision in mainstream schools will be carried out as “urgently as possible”.
He has also told MPs that the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has been in talks with councils over deficits driven by spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The prime minister was warned that there could be an “avalanche” of councils issuing 114 notices - effectively declaring bankruptcy - within two years.
The crisis in SEND support was an issue raised during the prime minister’s appearance before the Liaison Select Committee of senior MPs yesterday.
SEND system ‘neglected to point of crisis’
He told Helen Hayes, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, that the government’s inheritance on SEND was “a system that was neglected to the point of complete crisis”.
The prime minister highlighted that extra funding had been provided but also said there was a need for reforms.
“I think we have got to reform; we have got to have a much earlier intervention system in place; and we need to make sure that this is predominantly mainstream,” Sir Keir said.
“Those are longer-term changes, but my own strong belief is that even with the extra funding, which is desperately needed, if we do not change the way in which special education is provided, we will never be able to plug the gap and fix the problem.”
He added: “We need early intervention and to make sure that provision is available in mainstream schools. That is the reform, or the change, that I think we need to bring about - and as urgently as possible.”
Ms Hayes welcomed an extra £1 billion being committed on SEND, but warned that this is just one third of the current in-year deficit.
There is a statutory override in place that means these high-needs deficits are kept off council books until March 2026. Experts warn that without this in place around two-fifths of councils may need to declare effective bankruptcy
Questioning the prime minister, Ms Hayes said: “What local authorities are most concerned about is the question of the statutory override, which, as you will know, is an accounting fudge that allows SEND-related deficits to be kept off their books.”
‘Existential issue’ for councils
She asked when councils would be have certainty about what would happen with these deficits, adding: “This is an existential issue for local authorities. If there isn’t a solution to the statutory override, the government will see an avalanche of local authorities issuing section 114 notices - it could not be more important.”
Sir Keir said that Ms Rayner was in talks with councils, adding: “I know that the deputy prime minister is all over this. It matters hugely to her.
“I will just double down and make sure, now you have raised it, that all the relevant conversations are taking place.”
A provisional local government finance settlement statement for 2025-26, published on Wednesday, says that the government intends to set out SEND reform plans next year.
It says: “The government intends to set out plans for reforming the SEND system in further detail next year. This will include details of how the government will support local authorities to deal with their historic and accruing deficits and any transition period from the current SEND system to the reformed system.”
Today the Commons Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry aimed at finding solutions to the SEND crisis.
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