The government’s promise to write off almost all of councils’ historic SEND deficits fails to consider “burgeoning” home-to-school transport costs, MPs have warned.
The parliamentary public accounts committee has asked ministers to explain how their SEND reforms will affect these costs, previously predicted by the National Audit Office to reach £3 billion by 2030.
It comes as the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) warned SEND costs could actually increase ahead of reforms.
In a report, the committee said that even if reforms announced last week are successful, it is “likely to be some time” before they translate into transport savings.
The government plans to write off 90 per cent of historic high needs deficits up to March, with costs to be met from central departmental budgets from 2028-29.
But MPs warn there are “still unanswered questions” about the new deficits councils are expected to rack up in the years before the government takes on the cost pressures. These are expected to reach £9 billion.
‘Unanswered questions’
The government previously said that for these years it would take an “appropriate and proportionate approach, though it will not be unlimited”. But no further details have been released.
The new funding arrangements should address SEND cost pressures, but they wouldn’t cover transport costs, MPs added.
The DfE expects demand and distances travelled to fall when children’s needs are identified and met earlier and closer to home.
But Rachel Gilmour, a member of the public accounts committee, said “a problem this chronic and severe demands a response that does not leave any unanswered questions for children and families”.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead added: “Unfortunately, our inquiry has identified a number of glaring ones for home-to-school transport – a problematic system for parents on which government spends multiple billions a year not covered by government’s recent announcements.”
MPs also claimed the DfE “does not understand” how access to transport is affecting attendance and doesn’t “yet have the data it needs to oversee transport effectively”.
They argued for better local transport options and integrated education and transport planning, especially rurally.
A DfE spokesperson said they were already taking action ahead of the reforms, including introducing a new national data collection for councils to benchmark spending.
They were also “creating a bespoke funding formula to direct money where it is needed most, and working with to give councils better tools to improve routes serving schools.
“Taken together we are confident these measures will address the concerns the committee has raised.”
Cost risk continues
The OBR said this week that the proposed SEND reforms and extra £4.1 billion in announced funding had reduced spending pressure, but “uncertainty around the impact of the reforms represents a continued risk to the forecast”.
They said the DfE’s modelling of new education, health and care plans “assumes that the rate of increase will slow” between now and 2029-30. It projects it will then fall.
But the OBR said the government “has not set out specifically how the reforms will deliver this or provided estimates of any cost savings”, adding: “Previous changes to the eligibility for public spending programmes, such as the replacement of disability living allowance with personal independence payment for extra-cost disability benefits, did not achieve the savings planning”.
There is a risk “reforms could increase spending in the short term if the volume of assessments increases ahead of September 2029 when EHCP assessments are due to change”.
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