SEND Open letter to the Secretary of State

12 December 2024

Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson
Secretary of State for Education
Sent by email

Dear Ms Phillipson,

I am writing to thank you for making the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) crisis one of your top priorities as Secretary of State. As you noted in your recent speech to the Confederate of School Trusts, “the SEND system has been neglected to the point of crisis and now is the time for bold reform”. I welcome your focus on improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream education and the additional £1bn investment for special educational needs announced by the Chancellor in her budget.

However, despite these positive steps, I am also writing to express my deep concern regarding the current crisis facing SEND services in Stockport. Stockport’s SEND funding is stuck in the past, we need a model based on today’s needs, not yesterday’s data.

Stockport, like many local authorities, has seen a significant rise in the demand for its SEND services, with the number of children requiring support growing rapidly. Despite this increase, the funding allocation for SEND services needs to reflect the actual costs incurred by our council to meet statutory requirements.

We’re building schools and expanding teams, but fair funding is the missing piece in Stockport’s SEND transformation.

Stockport Council is passionate about transforming our SEND offer for local children, young people and their families. We are working hard to meet these challenges and to ensure every student gets the support they deserve.  From building new schools to expanding our expert teams, we’re taking ambitious steps to reshape SEND provision across the borough. Still, as I’m sure our SEND community will confirm, this is simply not enough. Without fair funding, we cannot provide the necessary resources that would enable all children to thrive academically and socially.

The f40, a group Stockport is part of notes that: “School and SEND funding continue to be unfair, with many local authorities and schools receiving thousands of pounds less per pupil than others. The difference is as much as £5,000 per pupil between the lowest and highest funded schools.”

While we agree that areas with the most significant disadvantage should receive proportionate funding, we believe the current gap is too wide and is the cause of our current financial challenges, which sees spending on special education needs in Stockport outstripping funding by £18m a year.

If Stockport were funded like its neighbours, we’d have millions more to support our children.

The current context in Stockport is that we currently receive around £1,100 per pupil for special educational needs. This is amongst the lowest levels nationally. If we received the same amount as the best-funded local authority, we would receive around £85m more a year for Special Educational Needs. If we received the same funding level as close neighbours in the North West, we would receive between £6m and £21m more every year for Special Educational Needs.

The £1bn extra funding announced by the chancellor in the budget is very welcome. However, this extra funding must not be distributed according to the existing criteria. Using this methodology will only increase funding for Stockport by just over £3m. To do this will exacerbate existing funding unfairness and will not address the significant deficit in our funding.

This unfairness is compounded by the impact of the wider schools funding settlement. Stockport receives around £7,800 total funding per pupil, inclusive of schools and high-needs funding. This is, once again, amongst the lowest nationally.  If we were funded the same amount as the best-funded local authority, our schools would get £190m more a year. If we received the same amount as our best funded neighbours, our schools would get £50m more a year.

I urge you to make SEND funding a priority for all and to consider the following actions to address the SEND funding crisis in Stockport:

1. Fund the need, not the past: Update the SEND funding model to allocate resources based on current needs and projections rather than outdated historical data to ensure equitable distribution across local authorities. To achieve this, a new minimum funding level should be established for local areas with no LA funded below the median per pupil level. The allocation of this additional investment should be made on this basis.

2. Provide Emergency Support for High-Need Areas: Offer targeted financial relief for councils facing immediate pressure from high numbers of SEND students, particularly those experiencing disproportionate funding gaps. We believe High Needs funding allocations should be reviewed and redesigned on a need basis, with a revised funding formula. High Needs allocations should be wholly based on current needs, not historic funding.

3. Convene a task force of local councils to redesign the funding model: Work with Stockport and other councils to establish a more sustainable funding mechanism that can adapt to changing demands, enabling local authorities to plan and deliver consistent, high-quality SEND services.

Without swift action, Stockport will continue to face overwhelming challenges in supporting children with SEND. I appreciate your attention to this critical issue and look forward to any steps you can take to address the needs of SEND students and families in Stockport.

Yours sincerely

Cllr Wendy Meikle
Stockport Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education