To ask you to explain SEND funding and bankrupt councils to me?

[Myanna]

I've read a few articles like this one:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/feb/05/send-costs-bankrupt-english-local-authorities

But I don't understand why the cost of funding SEND is so high that it's going to potentially/actually make most councils insolvent.

It's not like provision is generous or easy to get, from what I've read (I don't have a child who is supported).

Were these kids previously just not supported in any way by the state and was it left to families to cope as best they could?
Are these kids who previously wouldn't have survived, but now do because of better medical care and therefore need a lot of help?
Is this private equity running enterprises and charging huge amounts to local authorities?
Is it just inflation and the cost of employing people?

I really don't know much about this at all but I'm sure many on here do, so I'd really welcome your knowledge.

There is undoubtedly some waste but there is also too much demand for expensive support. Both things can be true. We need to tackle both aspects.

We need to start by setting a budget for SEN based on money available and the population's priorities. We live in a democracy so difficult questions like how we prioritise public spending should be decided by the public. If we spend more on SEN then we will spend less on other things which would have to include major services like the NHS or adult social care due to the big numbers we are talking about.

Once we have a budget we need to agree how best to spend it. Should we cap spending for individuals? What is the threshold for applying for help? Would we rather have cheaper and less effective support for some so that others can access any support? These are tough questions that need to be answered.

Is it worth teaching children to communicate and express their wants and needs?

Yes.

But they’re not being taught that are they? It’s not working. They’re not learning.

So one child - not the “many” referred to further up the thread.

Candidly - have you got one?

I had a completely non-verbal 5 year old. I now have a 9 year old who can tell me when he’s thirsty (water), when he’s hungry (dinner), what he wants to do (drive, TV on, playground).

Had someone decided his SALT wasn’t “worth it” after a couple of years, that wouldn’t be the case.

It is absolutely valuable to have even the potential to know if your child is hungry, unwell or in pain. Or to maybe one day be able to ask how their day has been.

Take a look at your capable child that you described, and tell any of us if you’d like her to be mute, and being left that way because trying isn’t “worth it.”

That’s less than a third of £1 million.

Many are it just take a lot longer
My son wasent toilet trained until he was 9 for example but he got there in the end
He was never thst interested in signalong, or PECs but hes doing really well with a communication board
He's also just started using an iPad, currently just to watch stuff on but in nearly 16 years this is the first time hes shown an interests so who know ,s maybe he will be able to use am ACC device at some point.

We already have high taxes. Every tax payer will leave the country.

Why would someone work hard to pay ever higher taxes meaning they can't afford a house or look after their own child or have any resemblance of a decent lifestyle. Why, because all the money has been diverted to another child down the road labelled as SEN.

I didn’t say you did say all parents are unscrupulous.

Yes, some professionals are poor. Just like some LA professionals are. That doesn’t mean the parent is using the professionals to “manipulate the system”.

If the ‘extras’ aren’t in F (or required to fulfil F), the LA will not fund them. LAs don’t fund provision they don’t have to,

Recording studios, games consoles and gyms aren’t necessarily extra-curriculars. They can all be SEP in F. That applies whether the CYP is in school or not.

Some APs are poor. I haven’t said otherwise. Some LA provision is equally poor.

If it was the thread about if SEN caseworkers were to be trusted, she was not ‘bullied’. The thread is there for all to see.

I can answer this as someone with a SEN adult relative with Learning Difficulties.

Realistically most SEN adults with learning disabilities will be totally financially dependent on the state for the rest of their life. Only 20% will ever live independently. At least half live with aging parents. When their parents die they are then generally moved to state supported accommodation.

Not going to happen in a thousand Sundays. The tax burden is enormous and SEN has more than its fair share.

Agree. People want to prioritise their own children, and that is not at all selfish.

Just because you don’t recognise it as learning doesn’t mean it isn’t. No, the may not go on to communicate verbally, or even non-verbally, but there is more the SALT than that.

We live in a democracy. We know most people don't want to pay more taxes even if it leads to better public services. The polls tell us this.

People always say that but you can't just leave the country
The reality is that they will moan and whinge about it like you .

All the while private companies (including private equity, hedge funds etc) are creaming millions of pounds of taxpayers money NOTHING will EVER change. And that's true for absolutely every public or formerly-public service we get shafted on the cost of as taxpayers and consumers; healthcare, social care, housing, transport, utilities.

As someone said upthread - we've been fucked by neoliberal economics. There's no going back on this without a major revolution in the way public services are created, managed and delivered - which would likely mean a wholesale uprising of the populous in refusing to pay our taxes and service the corporate machines that now control those services.

No, they simply won't vote for it. We live in a democracy. Polls are clear. People don't want to be taxed more.

Our town has a special school. Every afternoon there is a huge fleet of taxis outside presumably going out across the county and maybe beyond. They could probably save some money right there. Each child seems to have a personal chauffeur.

and for my son I was told to not expect much, to be prepared that he wouldn't make much progress physically but he has exceeded expectations and he has learnt how to sit up, bottom shuffle and roll over.

With SALT, he was also able to learn how to eat and get rid of his NG feeding tube.

He wouldn't be able to do any of that if he hadn't had the chance in the first place.

Good way to put that perspective. My children are severely disabled and have always gone to special schools, so the vast majority of the families we socialise with have children with SEND. It makes it feel like everyone has SEND and my parents (where my children were the only grandchildren) kept asking me why all children have SEND "these days".

I think this is the reality.

I agree with your approach, save the money for when the dependent adults need state supported accommodation.

With what money?

In our school we have a much higher number of children with ALN and IDPs than average. Many of these children need a 1:1 LSA. We received approximately £4k per child. We get an additional approximate £1,500 per child with ALN. Take the annual salary of a full time, higher level ALN 1:1 LSA (between £25-30k) and subtract the £5,500. The school is out of pocket by about £20k for each of those children who need one designated adult with them at all times. That same child in a special school would receive much more money into that setting (approx £35k).

The state school meanwhile is haemorrhaging budget into staffing. The largest outgoing is staffing.

So even if we only had 5 children who needed a 1:1 that would be £100k that has to come from somewhere. But where? The budget is already slashed to bare minimum.

As for why there are more children with IDPs with ALN, I don't know. I just know we have a statutory and moral obligation to make the school a safe place for all of the children and adults so that they can access excellent quality of learning. They need their basic needs met before anything wonderful and transformative can happen.

A friend of mine is a teacher in a school which doesn't have the number of LSAs the children needs because the head prioritised balancing the budget over safety and wellbeing. They have record numbers of staff illness from physical injury and mental stress, a record number of written complaints from parents saying that their children don't feel safe in school, teaching staff who don't feel safe and are all looking for other jobs etc.

So we should just hold tax payers hostage? And you think they won't revolt?

Yes but there comes a point where the tax payer becomes destitute. A set amount of money only goes so far no matter how good your budget.

We will create a system where virtually everyone would need to claim some form of benefits. That no one is working to provide?