SEND reform is key
This year feels particularly important for children, young people and families – a moment of great opportunity and significant challenge.
Reforms across health, social care and early years are gathering pace.
The new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the upcoming schools white paper, the introduction of Best Start Family Services, and a renewed focus on youth policy all signal a system in transition. Councils are ready to play their part in shaping that system, but we need the right national conditions to do so.
One of the key themes that will shape the future of children’s services across the country is the Government’s reform programmes for social care and for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.
Across the country, children’s social care is under enormous pressure. Councils are facing rising demand, increasing complexity, significant workforce shortages and spiralling placement costs.
A fair, inclusive and sustainable system is not only overdue; it is essential.
The Government’s reform agenda represents a real opportunity to redesign the system. I’m pleased that last month’s local government finance policy statement announced more than £2.4 billion for the Families First Partnership programme over the next three years.
However, we also want to ensure that any reform is grounded in what we know works: earlier intervention; strong, stable relationships; a diverse, high-quality placement market; support that reflects children’s identities, families and communities; and a workforce supported to stay, grow and lead.
Similarly, children’s social care placement costs continue to rise rapidly, alongside concerns about profiteering, market fragility and insufficient provision for children with the most complex needs.
Councils cannot deliver meaningful reform unless these market issues are addressed head-on.
We also know the system is at its best when children’s voices are heard – so young people’s insights must shape not just individual services, but also the narrative of reform itself.
Meanwhile, reform of the SEND system is one of the biggest priorities for councils, and one of the most complex.
The LGA welcomes the Government’s intention to improve early identification, strengthen mainstream inclusion and stabilise the system. Such reform is both urgent and unavoidable.
To make it a success, we need:
- capacity and confidence in mainstream schools, so children receive the right support early
- a multidisciplinary workforce strategy across education, health and care
- clarity on the role of specialist and alternative provision
- a sustainable funding model, including a long-term solution to dedicated school grant deficits.
As first was going to press, there was some movement on the latter point, with the Chancellor announcing in her Budget that the Government would absorb SEND costs from 2028/29. This does not address existing deficits – now at more than £4 billion and projected to rise to £6 billion by 2026. These deficits pose a systemic risk that no council can resolve alone.
We must also be honest about home-to-school transport costs. Spending has reached £1.7 billion a year. That is a 170 per cent increase in less than a decade, and the system is teetering on the brink of collapse.
Reform must include eligibility, pick-up points, use of public transport and personal travel budgets, and a transparent conversation about funding.
SEND reform will only succeed if it is co-produced with parents, carers, young people and the professionals who support them every day, and councils stand ready to work with the Government to make this happen.