Schools funding crisis grows as special needs costs soar to £10bn

Report finds big increase in demand and system not delivering for pupils

- Richard Adams

The cost of special needs education in England has hit £10bn a year, with the number of children and young people entitled to government support expected to double to 1 million within a decade, a landmark report has found.

The investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that despite the record levels of spending, there had been no signs of improvement in the lives of children with special educational needs (SEN).

Local authorities were forced towards insolvency by rising demand for special school places and "high-needs" funding for specialists such as therapists, psychologists and teaching assistants, the report said.

"Although the Department for Education (DfE) has increased high-needs funding, the SEN system is still not delivering for children and their families, and DfE's current actions are unlikely to resolve the challenges," said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO.

"The government has not yet identified a solution to manage local authority deficits arising from SEN costs, which ongoing savings programmes will not address," he added.

"Given that the current system costs over £10bn a year, and that demand for SEN provision is forecast to increase further, government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent, including through more inclusive education, and developing a cohesive whole-system approach."

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said the system had been "neglected to the point of crisis" by the previous government.