Part 3: Kent County Council’s special-education system is on its knees

No-one can claim we are short of evidence that support for children with Special Education Needs & Disabilities needs a radical overhaul.

It is now very clear to everyone what the problems are and how deep they are especially at Kent County Council.

In a report issued by the external auditor – Grant Thornton (see pages 8,9 &14) – to KCC, they make it clear that the transport costs for Special Education Needs & Disability (SEND) was £50m in 2021/22. Nearly a million pounds a week was spent sending 6,633 pupils with Education
Health and Care Plans to school inside and outside of the County. This is clearly not sustainable.

The report also makes it clear that a child in Kent is 20% more likely to receive an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) in Kent than in any other County. The report does not make it clear why this might be. 

In 2021/22, the high needs deficit at KCC rose from £51m at the start of the financial year to £97m at the close of the financial year. Again this is not sustainable. 

Money – or the lack of it – influences every part of the system that supports children and young people with SEND. It determines what help they receive, which school they go to, and where. The central problem is that funding has failed to keep pace with demand, creating a fast-growing financial black hole at the heart of the KCC SEND system. 

Historically the demand for High needs support has been on the rise since 2014. The rise from 2014 came about because in September 2014, the Children and Families Act 2014 came into force. This legislation introduced a new SEND Code of Practice which covers children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities from birth to age 25. The big change was the introduction of education, health and care plans (EHC plans) which replaced statements of Special Education Needs and Learning Difficulty Assessments. 

This simple change meant the number of statutory duties that KCC and other LAs had in relation to children’s services prior to the change in 2014, was 200. By 2018 this has increased to 299, according to a list compiled by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services in October 2018. Since then the number of statutory duties owed by KCC has risen again to more than 325. This 62.5% increase in the number of statutory duties is in stark contrast to the 55% reduction in SEND funding for KCC and other LAs since 2010. This lack of funding has further exacerbated the situation due to an increasing number of children and families in need of help and support, facing evermore complex problems.

According to the latest data published, the number of Kent pupils with EHCPs has risen by 213%, between Jan 2013 – Jan 2023. It continues to rise. The figures for 2022 and 2023 are likely to be worse, as parents wait on average sixteen months for ADHD and autism screening. 

We know that more children are being sent to schools inside and outside of Kent; which too has placed an extraordinary strain on KCC budgets, along with the transport costs.

The issues causing this are primarily two fold.

The first is the lack of trust that children will receive good educational support in local schools, driving parents to send them to more expensive private schools.

The second is the culture in some schools in Kent, who are not willing to take children with EHCPs, as they tend to bring down GCSE and A Level results; which affect the schools standing in their communities. The inclusive quality of provision in Kent’s schools remains hugely variable. Some school leaders, heavily involved and engaged in trying to shift the culture of inclusion, state that it has regressed. 

If we are to break down barriers and make our schools in Kent truly inclusive, then some schools; who are currently reluctant to take SEND children, must become more accepting of children with SEND needs and provide room and space for them to flourish in mainstream schools.  

Also a point to consider is, KCC have a good number of PFI schools (Academies) which they pay for, but KCC have limited powers to impose SEND children with EHCPs into these schools. This needs to change, but can only be changed at a national level. 

Even with the safety valve money KCC has received if one side doesn’t give, it will be a cause of any future KCC financial collapse, for as the external auditor says in the report, if KCC fail to find £86m; which includes SEND savings then a s114 notice (effective bankruptcy) is very likely. 

We can point fingers and say it’s all KCCs fault, but it isn’t that simple. Yes KCC are at fault, think KCC SEND transport procurement fiasco back in Feb 2022; which when reprocured saved KCC just £1m a year. 

Also the lack of funding from the Tory government, and their desire to shrink the state (think austerity), does not help the any SEND child in Kent, or elsewhere.

The evidence is clear and unequivocal. KCCs SEND Department is on its knees, and without significant reform, it will be one part of a bigger picture which will financially destroy KCC without reform. 

Finally, although we are loathe to place responsibility at SEND parents door, one must remember, they like KCC can be unreasonable, but then they are fighting for their SEND child’s right to an education; which is a fight worth fighting isn’t it? 

As always we’ll leave you to ponder that.

The Shepway Vox Team

Not owned by Hedgefunds or Barons