The School Cuts Coalition and 39 local authorities have written to the Government to warn they do not have enough funding to meet their statutory obligations for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The letter to the education secretary highlights the ‘unacceptable’ fact that more than 2,000 SEND children are left with no education provision at all due to inadequate funding.
The letter states: ‘The Government’s recent cash injection for SEND does not introduce any new money into local authority budgets and this will not solve the long term challenges LAs and schools face in delivering effective SEND provision.
'Lack of adequate SEND funding is limiting local authorities’ ability to meet their statutory duties for children living with SEND. The result has been far-reaching reductions to SEND provision and nationally over 2,000 children and young people identified with complex needs with no education provision at all.’
The coalition is calling for a ‘fair, sustainable funding system’ for SEND and an increase in High Needs Block funding to local authorities.