Hi everyone, I wanted to share an article about the unfair way funding is given to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) gets the lowest funding in England, with £960 per pupil, while Camden Council gets £3,300. Councillor Victoria Aitken called this unfair and said it’s making it hard to help over 6,000 children in the area who need extra support.
The f40 group, which campaigns for fairer funding, said many councils could have a £5 billion SEND funding gap by 2026. The Department for Education admitted the system isn’t working and promised changes but said there’s no quick fix.
It’s a serious issue affecting many councils, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
Thanks for sharing this, Yupeng! It’s alarming to see such a stark difference in funding for children with SEND across regions. The gap between what East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Camden Council receive is huge, and it’s clear that this inequality is having a direct impact on the children who need support the most.
Do you think there are specific policies or initiatives that could help redistribute SEND funding more fairly across councils, or would a complete overhaul of the current system be the better solution?
Well, I would say a combination of policies could better help. Adjusting the National Funding Formula to better reflect local needs would ensure councils receive funding based on the actual number and complexity of SEND children in their area. Introducing needs-based funding and weighted factors for more severe cases could help redistribute resources fairly as well!
Wow, that’s such an important issue! It’s really concerning how much of a difference there is in funding between councils. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for schools in areas like East Riding to support all the children who need extra help when they’re getting so much less funding. Do you know if there’s been any progress on what changes the Department for Education is planning? I wonder what steps are being considered to make the funding system fairer across different regions.
To answer your question, I had done a simple research online and that is what I found:
‘The Department for Education (DfE) in the UK is currently working on reforms to the National Funding Formula (NFF) to make school funding fairer and more transparent across different regions.’
The reforms are designed to simplify the system, gradually transitioning all schools to a more consistent, national formula. This move also aligns with the government’s goal to increase accountability and transparency while ensuring that all schools within multi-academy trusts receive the same funding regardless of their local authority.
This is such an important topic! It’s really disheartening to see how funding disparities can impact children who need extra support. I wonder how these funding gaps affect the day-to-day experiences of students with SEND in areas like East Riding compared to places with better funding. What kind of changes do you think would make the biggest difference for those kids?
You’re absolutely right—funding disparities have a profound impact on students with SEND, affecting everything from the availability of specialized staff to access to tailored learning resources.
To make a real difference, targeted increases in funding could go a long way by enabling schools to hire more SEND-trained staff, reduce student-to-teacher ratios, and provide necessary tools and therapies that empower every child to thrive.