The SEND funding crisis, throughout the country, has become so severe that this funding alone could bankrupt an entire council; there are simply too many children with SEND and not enough funding to help the students. Parents are currently losing confidence in mainstream schools, who are meant to provide education to their children who have SEND, as they cannot manage the students effectively.
Crisis for budget?
Today marks the Budget, where the government will promise sectors where they will spend their money. Headteachers across the country, teaching unions and think tanks have pleaded with the government to announce that they will provide far more than the already promised £780 million of SEND money for 2020-21.
According to the Department for Education, they are increasing high-needs funding for ‘local authorities by £780 million next year,’ which will boost total budget for those students with complex needs to £7 billion in 2020-21.
Is this enough funding to cope with the problem? Every child deserves to have the same opportunities as everyone else and no child should have to be held back from their potential due to a monetary issue. The DfE have also stated that they will be reviewing the current system and funding going forward to ensure that the system works for everyone, no matter where they live in the country.