SEN funding isn't a bottomless money pit

[Sogfree]

I'll preface this by saying I really enjoy my job working in a SEN school. I care deeply for the children and families I work with.

I've had 4 different conversations this week with parents where they expect an excessive amount of additional resource to be allocated to their child. They expect this as, in their opinion, it's needed. I disagree with 3 of the 4 parents that this is needed.

All 4 of the parents are going to fight the decisions county have made. Their decision to fight will mean county spend more money arguing the challenge.

Services are already broken with the increase in need. Recruitment fails, as there aren't enough speech therapists/OTs/CAMHS practitioners etc to employ.

One parent demanding extra from one of these services means another child gets less.

One parent demanding a child goes to school X at £100k per year when a place at school Y at £30k is going to meet their needs means the child who needs the place at school X doesn't get it, and extra £70k per year is wasted. And the parent keeps their child out of school for 12-18 months whilst they fight for the place at school X.

That's the reality.

Every parent wants the world for their child. I understand that. But taxpayers can't afford to give every child the world.

AIBU - parents know their child best and we should fund what the parents say the child needs

YANBU - there's only so much money to go around and parents need to accept hard decisions have to be made without challenging them

Same and normal have I

Nor ,not normal

That is the implication of what you are saying. Your child didn’t get the provision they require yet others did get the provision they reasonably require (whether understand why they reasonably require it or not) and you object to that - ‘simply wrong’.

I don't think anyone would take issue with physio being in section F of an EHCP.

It's the parents who want drumming, sailing lessons etc that people are criticising.

When the government look at how they can make the mainstream sector work for more kids, serious investment in therapies (SALT, PT, physio) will be key...

I don't think anyone would take issue with physio being in section F of an EHCP.

Oh they do.

@Zoflorabore she is 16

@Zoflorabore she is 16

There's cutbacks needed everywhere ,the SEN system is no different,it will need to take a hit .
All children ... including those not able to access a school ...should have access to the basic subjects.. before money is found for gym membership, climbing lessons ect .
We could discuss why cutbacks are needed ,and how the current and past governments have made such a mess ,but likely opinions would vary

Stop stalking my posts. You are fuming that a SEND parent with lived experience doesn't agree with everything you say.
I won't be responding any more to posts which simply twist everything I say.

Yes.

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/spending-special-educational-needs-england-something-has-change

Highlights

• Central government funding for high needs currently totals nearly £11 billion and has increased substantially, with a 59% or £4 billion real-terms rise between 2015–16 and 2024–25.
• High needs spending has been consistently higher than funding by £200–800 million per year between 2018 and 2022, mainly because local authorities have a statutory obligation to deliver the provision set out in EHCPs.
• As a result, local authorities have accumulated large deficits in their high-needs budgets, estimated to be at least £3.3 billion in total by this year.
• The government’s own forecasts suggest annual spending on high needs will rise by at least £2–3 billion between 2024–25 and 2027–28

These aren't small numbers. This is just for high needs SEN.

No-one is arguing that high needs SEN children aren't worthy of love, or aren't equal souls under God, etc. But it's a huge chunk of funding which is currently administered under a system which enforces spending it via statutory obligations on a per-student basis, i.e., the pot must continue to grow regardless of whether we have the money. It's fair to discuss

I am not stalking your posts. I am reading the posts on this thread.

I am not ‘fuming’.

Exactly

There are a lot of private companies who run various sorts of provision who are exploiting the situation and the cost of sending a child to some of these can twice that of the LEA provision. There needs to be a rethink of provision. I do agree with the OP but also believe that the current provision needs reassessing.

Perhaps one way to address this wood be for govt to not target home education as some sort of terrifying attempt gif parents to abuse or radicalise their children.

I didn’t have the energy or patience to home educate my child and fight for an EHCP and then go through tribunal - saved my local LA a small fortune.

@Rainbowpony6 so do you think DC (with and without SEN) in schools shouldn’t have PE lessons and free before/lunch/after school clubs? Some schools have climbing walls and gym equipment.

Why not approach the advocacy charities such as IPSEA and SOSSEN to challenge the LA on their failure to discharge their legal duty, instead of braying about pushy parents?

I was ready to criticise you based on your post title! Sen kids need support or it just becomes someone else’s problem down the line( benefits, adult services mental health etc)

But parents have to be realistic and the costs of going to panel are not helping the funding crisis at all. There needs to be more support for parents too so they are better able to cope.

Don’t parents have to pay for before and after school clubs

It’s become a real gravy train

@suburburban not in all schools. Some schools run free clubs (they may also run some fee paying ones).

Quite lucky if that’s the case for working parents

I think my dd pays for dgd

I dont think anyone has ever suggested that there should be no controls on SEN spending and that parents should be given whatever they demand. But its not your job to decide what a child needs either - there needs to be a process for independently and fairly assessing what a child needs, with input from parents, school and medical professiinals. And this process exists, albeit it doesnt always work well.

YABU for stirring up resentment by suggesting that parents demand £££ and its freely given - its not like that at all. As you would know if you worked in a special school.

Do you mean tribunal @whynotmereally ?

I can assure you I had no desire at all to do that (twice). I wouldn't have needed to if the LA had actually done their job would I?

@suburburban I didn’t mean childcare clubs. I meant school extra-curricular clubs.

Don't know any schools with a gym ,with all the machines that my local expensive gym has ..and I don't know any schools with the climbing equipment that a specialist climbing facility has .
Every child should have the bare minimum of basic subjects, before other children get extras