Ministers have promised extra SEND cash for schools and councils will come with the white paper, as town halls warned a freeze on high-needs funding will drive them further into the red.
Local authorities with “safety valve” deals aimed at reducing their SEND deficits told Schools Week they had expected real-terms lifts in their high-needs block allocations next financial year.
But the Department for Education said in December the use of the national funding formula (NFF) to allocate high-needs cash to councils had been suspended for 2026-27, and that funding would remain at 2025-26 levels.
Ministers announced last year that future SEND cost pressures will move on to the government’s balance sheet from 2028, leaving it facing a £6 billion annual shortfall.
However, the government has not set out its plan to deal with councils’ historic deficits, expected to balloon to £14 billion, insisting in December its support “will not be unlimited”.
‘Additional funding’
Georgia Gould, the schools minister, confirmed in a written parliamentary question that the white paper would “set out additional funding for both schools and local authorities to drive forward much-needed reform of the SEN and disability system”.
Last year’s spending review earmarked £760 million for SEND reforms, but only over two years.
The DfE said at the time the cash was just “one part of the investment government will make in SEND reform”. Ministers had not said how the money would be distributed.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said it was “very encouraging to hear the minister talking about additional funding accompanying the white paper”.
But he said ministers must “ensure all schools have the resources, access to expertise, and capacity needed to deliver on the government’s inclusion agenda”.
Julia Harnden, deputy director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, warned the “current model for distributing SEND funding to schools and colleges has been driven by financial constraint and inequity”.
“It is vital that a better system is put in place that means schools and colleges have adequate resources to work alongside health services, local authorities and other stakeholders in ensuring that children and families get the help that they need.”
Deficit concerns remain
Councils remain “concerned” about the NFF freeze as they set budgets for the next financial year. Instead of the usual uplifts, they have been told they will receive nominal increases in funding based on a variety of factors.
Analysis by Special Needs Jungle shows these rises range from 1.7 per cent for the East Riding of Yorkshire to 9.5 per cent for Sunderland.
However, councils warned the actual real-terms impact will be much smaller, because the increases include teacher pay and national insurance grants from previous years which have now been rolled into next year’s funding.
Kent County Council, a safety valve council, told Schools Week it was now facing an in-year deficit of nearly £70 million for 2025-26.
Christine McInnes, its director of children’s services, wrote to headteachers that whilst the government “refers to a future review of funding there is no information as to what this will include, and we are hoping this may be linked to the publication of the SEND white paper later this year”.
Councils face growing shortfalls
Hillingdon council in north London is receiving a 5.8 per cent increase from last year (£72.8 to £77.1 million). A spokesperson said the real-terms increase was just 1.48 per cent, after taking existing grants into account.
It has forecast an in-year overspend of £10.6 million for 2026-27.
Documents for Bexley in south London say its 7.2 per cent increase “appears substantial”, but most of the uplift is through previous grants rolled into the next year.
This would raise the high-needs block from £56 million in 2025-26 to £60 million for 2026-27.
Documents from Cambridgeshire’s schools forum state its high-needs block is increasing by 5.3 per cent, from £115.4 to £122.7 million.
But regardless of the rise, Cambridgeshire said without extra funding it would have an additional £3.5 million pressure on its budget this year, contributing to an estimated in-year overspend of £35 million.
And Slough council, which faces a £33 million cumulative deficit on its dedicated school grant in 2026-27, said: “Without further safety valve funding, higher levels of high-needs block DSG, changes to national policy or local mitigations to reduce and manage costs, the growing deficit on the DSG will undermine Slough’s overall financial recovery.”
Slough has been given a 6.3 per cent increase from £40.1 to £42.4 million.
‘Concerns’
The Local Government Association said councils had “concerns”, warning “inflation and rising need” were “increasing pressure on already overstretched high-needs budgets”.
Gould has been repeatedly pressed on when the delayed white paper will finally be published.
At the final national SEND conversation session on Wednesday, she said there was no “exact date”.
She also dodged a question on whether reforms would ensure a legal framework for children with SEND.
“I can only repeat what I’ve said, that we understand there needs to be a legal framework and there needs to be accountability.”
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