UK Government to cut support for special educational needs
In Scotland, SEND is akin to our funding for additional support needs (ASN) for children and young people in education.
For every £1billion of cuts in England, the impact on the Scottish budget would be approximately £93million.
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For example, when the Chancellor sought to remove the winter fuel payment (WFP) from most pensioners to save £1.5bn, this resulted in a consequential loss of £140m for Scotland. That policy was largely U-turned.
English local authorities have accumulated a £3.3bn deficit in their 'high needs' education budgets, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies last December.
Under English law, persons in education up to the age of 25 can seek education, health and care plans (EHCP) to identify the additional support required to meet their SEND at school.
The number of EHCPs has increased annually since they were introduced, rising by 71% from 253,679 in 2018 to 434,354 last year, according to the Department for Education.
The equivalent to EHCPs in Scotland is the coordinated support plan (CSP). Generally, children and young people with complex or multiple ASN will require a CSP.
Last year, 248,448 pupils were recorded as having ASN in Scotland, including autism, dyslexia or a mental health problem, in contrast with 140,542 a decade ago.
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And yet, counter-intuitively, the number of pupils with a CSP dropped by nearly two-thirds. In 2014, there were 3128 pupils with a CSP, but this fell by 61% to 1215 last year. That's a reduction from 2.2% to 0.4% of those with additional support needs.
If anything, these statistics strongly suggest there is a need for more funding and investment in ASN in Scotland. The possibility of Barnett formula cuts from the UK Government would make no sense at all.
The House of Commons rises today for the summer recess. The White Paper on SEND reform in England was due to be published earlier this year, but has been delayed. We'll need to wait until the autumn to discover if these disability support cuts go ahead.
Some of the possibilities mooted include restricting SEND support to those aged 18 or less. There might be a replacement of EHCPs altogether with something completely different.
Wales has phased in a new additional learning needs (ALN) system. This is a single statutory scheme known as an individual development plan (IDP), designed to encourage collaboration with children and parents in the planning process.
Only schools or local authorities can apply for IDPs, and not young people or their parents.
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Scotland's ASN system is right to place children, young people and parents at its heart. Having a legal right to request a CSP enables the rights to additional support to become a reality in practice.
It's unlikely Scotland would follow suit with the UK Government's policies here, but the potential for funding cuts must be a worry.
That said, we've seen major U-turns on the WFP and the welfare reform bill in the last couple of months.
Could Sir Kier Starmer's proposed SEND bill be the next big U-turn?
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