SEND reform 'urgently needed' to plug £55mn funding gap, East Sussex County Council warns
Amrit Virdi
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Reform of the support system for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and a cap on profits made by private companies through children's social care are being called for by East Sussex County Council leaders facing a £55mn funding gap next year.
The council has warned that public services funding may be at risk without urgent action from government as leaders grapple to make savings amid a national crisis in local authority funding.
The council has had to make £140mn worth of savings since 2012 despite 30,000 families in contact with the council’s children’s services department, its leaders have said.
They have written to newly elected MPs in the area, calling for them to press for urgent help from the government to sustain SEND and children’s social care services.
In particular, council leaders want the profits that private companies make on providing agency staff or on placing children in residential care to be limited.
A report published last year by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that the largest independent providers of children’s social care made profits of more than £300mn in 2022.
Alongside this, a reform of the SEND system is also requested to ensure funding better matches the priority needs of children and families.
Local authorities welcomed a £600m government funding boost to relieve pressure on services in January, but said this didn’t have a long term effect on children’s services.
A white paper published by the LGA ahead of the general election found that local authorities face a £6.2bn funding gap over the next two years due in part to rising pressures on children’s services, homelessness support and home-to-school transport for children with SEND.
Council Leader, councillor Keith Glazier, said: “Years of careful financial planning has put the county council in the best possible position to deal with the growing pressures, but we have been very clear that, without fairer longer-term funding agreements, the level of service we could offer would eventually be more severely affected.
“In light of the unsustainable financial position we find ourselves in, we have already taken steps to reduce our day-to-day spending where possible and are constantly reviewing all areas of the council’s work to ensure we continue to make the best use of every penny we are able to spend.”
Young people in Sussex recently co-produced a mental health directory with service providers in the area to make support more accessible as providers were struggling to share information about services.
