National Audit Office report on the SEND system: CCN responds

Today the National Audit Office has released a new report Support for young people with special educational needs (SEN), which examines issues within the system from a national and local perspective.

The report makes a series of recommendations to improve the SEND system, and backs many of the recommendations put forward in the County Councils Network (CCN) and Local Government Association’s report with Isos Partnership in the summer.

Below, CCN responds to the report.

Cllr Kate Foale, County Councils Network Spokesperson for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, said:

“This week, the County Councils Network released a new survey which found that two-thirds of county and unitary councils could declare bankruptcy by 2027 due to their special educational needs and disability (SEND) service deficits, if the statutory override comes to an end as planned in 18 months’ time. Today’s report from the National Audit Office (NAO) backs our calls for immediate clarity on this issue, and it is imperative the government takes action in the Budget and Spending Review.

“We have long argued that the SEND system is broken: it does not work for young people, parents, and councils alike. Reform is not only necessary but it is unavoidable, and many of the recommendations put forward by the NAO are what councils have called for, such as incentivising mainstream schools to better support SEND pupils, greater involvement of the health system, and to put local authorities on sustainable financial footing going forward.

“With councils continuing to accrue spiralling deficits and demand reaching record levels each year, reform is urgent. The government must set out root and branch change to the system within the next 18 months, designing a new way forward with strong input from local authorities, parents and young people.”