The government will set out how it intends to plug an estimated £6 billion shortfall in SEND funding at the next spending review in 2027, the education secretary has said.
Last week, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility warned a decision for government to take on the cost pressures of the SEND system from councils from 2028-29 would leave it facing an annual £6 billion shortfall.
Additional OBR analysis on the potential impact if the shortfall was addressed from the core schools budget prompted a fierce war of words between the Department for Education and the spending watchdog.
Ministers have now repeatedly insisted the money won’t come from the core schools budget, but faced further questions over which part of the government’s budget it will come from.
Speaking in Parliament today, Bridget Phillipson said: “I could not be more clear. This will come from across government budgets, and it is a matter for the next spending review.”
2028-29 budgets will be ‘reviewed’
The next spending review is due to take place in 2027. Departmental budgets for 2028-29, the year the government is due to take on the SEND pressures, were already set at the last three-year spending review in June.
However, the review document stated at the time that “budgets set at this SR for 2028-29 and 2029-30 will be reviewed at the next SR in 2027”.
This is “in line with the reforms to the spending framework announced last year”.
“The government has updated the charter for budget responsibility to require SRs to be held every two calendar years, and with a minimum duration of three years of the five-year forecast period to ensure public services are always planned over the medium term.”
But questions remain over where funding to plug the shortfall will be found.
‘Where will money come from?’
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott told the Commons this afternoon that the June spending review “has set departmental budgets for the year in question. There isn’t £6 billion down the back of the sofa.
“So unless she can say where else this £6 billion is coming from out of government [budgets] really – and clearly she just failed to do so – it must be coming out of schools or SEND.
“So let’s try again. Will she be straight with teachers and parents and her own back benchers and tell us what is being cut? Is it SEND or is it schools?”
But Phillipson hit back, saying the OBR had “published projections about SEND costs alongside the budget.
“They were hypothetical illustrations which the right hon lady would know if she went away and read the OBR document.
“The Treasury has been clear that the costs will be covered across overall budgets.”
No update yet on paused free schools
Ministers also faced a large number of questions from MPs about mainstream and special free school projects currently under review.
When it came to power last July, the Labour government ordered a review of 44 mainstream free school projects, as well as a number of proposed new special schools, citing concerns over value for money.
Earlier this term, the children’s minister Josh MacAlister told MPs there “will be an update provided later this year”.
But with the end of the year now just weeks away, the government appears to have softened its language on when an update will come.
MacAlister said today he would be “able to share very soon an update on those projects”.
But shadow minister Nick Timothy pointed out MacAlister “just said very soon, but we had been promised an answer before Christmas. Will he get on with it?”.
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