SEN0770

Written evidence submitted by Oxfordshire County Council

Oxfordshire County Council welcomes the opportunity to provide evidence to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into ‘Solving the SEND Crisis’.

Despite rapidly rising expenditure, outcomes of children and young people with SEND and families’ day-to-day experiences of the system have not improved. The council therefore believes that the current Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system is unsustainable and requires immediate and comprehensive reforms in order to become an effective system able to meet the needs of our children and young people.

Our evidence to the Committee focusses on both short-term actions required to stabilise the system, mostly in terms of financial interventions, which would then allow space for the necessary medium to long-term reforms to take place.

Support for children and young people with SEND

Educational Health Care Plans

1. Since 2014 and the introduction of the Children and Families Act, the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) nationally has risen by 140%. The picture is similar in Oxfordshire where the number of EHCPs has risen from 2,027 in 2017 to 7,318 in January 2025, an increase of 261%.

2. Timeliness and quality of EHCPs are priorities for Oxfordshire County Council to support young people. However, achieving both measures is challenging due to the high volume of requests. These challenges are exacerbated by the requirement for an educational psychologist to complete an assessment before an EHCP is written. Need has outstripped the capacity of available educational psychologists, and therefore trying to ensure a professional assessment is completed within the statutory timeframes is increasingly difficult. This significantly impacts on the local authority’s 20 week timeliness figures.

3. A report from the Department for Education[1] (DfE) in 2023 found that 88% of local authorities reported difficulties in recruiting educational psychologists, with 69% ‘not confident’ they would be able to meet the demand for educational psychologist services. As the number of requests for an EHCNA increases (with a 27% increase in requests from 2023-2024), the situation continues to worsen.

4. The requirement for an educational psychologist assessment for an EHCNA was established when the number of requests for assessments was significantly lower and before pressures on the system became an issue. To practice in the UK as an educational psychologist requires at least six years of formal education, and often an additional year’s experience working with children and young people. As a result, it will be difficult to quickly and sustainably grow the number of educational psychologists available to complete assessments.

5. Furthermore, educational psychologists employed by local authorities are subject to national pay scales, which are often less competitive compared to private sector opportunities. This pay limitation makes it challenging to attract and retain educational psychologists within local authorities.

6. In the past, local authorities had 28 weeks to complete a statutory needs assessment, compared to 20 weeks now. Around half of local authorities are able to achieve this nationally, suggesting the timescales and requirements are not achievable. Oxfordshire County Council believes it would be valuable to review the role of educational psychologists in assessments and consider whether it is always necessary for this element to be fulfilled by a qualified educational psychologist, or if other types of assessment could suffice. For instance, consideration of a paraprofessional role that could fulfil the psychological assessment element, or exploration of a role similar to physician associates that have helped in addressing staffing shortages within the NHS would be worthwhile.

Training needed for teachers

7. Oxfordshire County Council agrees with statements made by Minister for School Standards Catherine McKinnell that mainstream schools need to be made more inclusive[2]. However, to support this it is essential that initial teacher training incorporates how to best support children and young people with SEND, and it is not just seen as an add on module.

8. Anecdotally in Oxfordshire, we have found that there is an inconsistency in the confidence and knowledge of teachers in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND. Nationally, data supports this, with a recent survey finding that only one in 10 primary school teachers and leaders felt that their training prepared them to meet the social, emotional and mental health needs of pupils. Furthermore, two-thirds of teachers across primary and secondary schools said their training did not prepare them to meet the needs of pupils in any of the main areas of SEND[3].

9. Oxfordshire County Council welcomes the government’s review into the curriculum, and the inclusion of a consideration of the challenges to attainment and barriers which might hold children with SEND back from the opportunities they deserve. However, it is vital that alongside any changes to the curriculum, and efforts to increase mainstream education, that the DfE considers initial teacher training and ongoing professional development requirements, to ensure that teachers are prepared to support a wide variety of students.

Current and future model of SEND provision

Profit making

10. Oxfordshire County Council is concerned by the ability of private providers to generate profits from young people with SEND. A recent article by the Financial Times[4] found that the revenues of the three largest private providers of SEND education have nearly doubled since 2019. Whilst it is clear that some places require significant amounts of funds to meet children’s needs, the second largest provider according to the FT, is owned by a private equity arm of a sovereign wealth fund. Oxfordshire County Council believes it cannot be right for firms to capitalise on the needs of vulnerable young people due to a lack of capacity, provision and funding from government funded schools.

11. As with children’s social care, where the government have pledged to “crack down on care providers making excessive profit”, the council believes the government should consider the same measures for SEND education providers. This would include considering capping providers’ profit levels for SEND placements.

Improving mainstream provision to increase inclusion

12. As well as ensuring all teachers are adequately trained to support children with SEND, there are other factors that need to be considered to improve mainstream provision to increase inclusion. Many schools currently feel unequipped to support children with SEND. This is especially true in rural areas with small primary schools, where resources are particularly limited.

13. Enhanced provision of school-based stages of the SEND Code of Practice should be explored, as well as increasing early intervention assessments and consultations to support school staff. Furthermore, the creation of specialist support teams in each school to work with families and young people, and the creation of a special needs’ advisory service, run through councils and available to schools could provide support and training for teaching and non-teaching staff. Some Multi-Academy Trusts have been able to provide similar services through top-slicing of funds, however the Central Needs Block funding does not allow local authorities to do the same for maintained schools.

Curriculum

14. A broad and balanced curriculum is necessary to accommodate the diverse learning needs of children and young people. Oxfordshire County Council believes that the curriculum needs to fit the needs of children, maintaining the importance of literacy and numeracy, but remaining flexible enough to support and encourage those who might struggle to thrive under the current academic system. This includes consideration of more vocational and creative subjects, as well as life skills, especially at Key Stages 4 and 5, that recognise the diverse talents of all young people. A shift away from the competitive academic approach to a community-spirited inclusive system would allow SEND support to sit within the broader education system.

Online schooling

15. Oxfordshire County Council’s Virtual School, a service which supports children in our care with a suitable educational placement that meets their needs, has taught the council some valuable lessons in maintaining an educational presence for children.

16. Some children with SEND, especially those for whom education in a school or other education institution is not appropriate, are supported through an Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) mechanism. EOTAS provision is usually intended to be short-term, with the goal of finding a more suitable school placement for the young person as soon as possible.

17. We believe it would be worthwhile for the government to explore the creation of a virtual school to support the needs of children with SEND, for whom education in a school setting is not appropriate. This would enable every child to remain on the roll of a school, maintaining funding and visibility for them, and continuing their education whilst a more appropriate long-term placement can be found. Such a school might also be appropriate for other children missing education, such as those arriving with EHCPs mid-year, when no immediate special school places are available. A virtual school would therefore be able to provide continuity of education.

Tribunals

18. Oxfordshire County Council would like to draw attention to the role that tribunals play in the SEND system, which we believe are also in need of reform. We believe that the 2014 reforms have made the system more adversarial, with parents feeling that the only way to get their child the support they require is by taking local authorities to tribunals.

19. Whilst on the face of it, the majority of tribunals are successful, Oxfordshire County Council believes it is misleading to say that parents usually ‘win’. Only a small percentage of tribunals go to hearings, before that point the local authority works with the parents to try to find an agreed upon solution. Often this results in the local authority ‘conceding’, sometimes with compromises and mutual agreement reached by both parties. Other times it could be that there is an agreed need by all parties for a child to attend a special school, however the local authority are unable to find a place quickly due to capacity or geography, but are able to resolve this during the time before a tribunal hearing. When a local authority concedes, it appears that the tribunal was successful, but often this does not truly come down to ‘winning’ or ‘losing’.

20. By its very nature the tribunal system is adversarial, pitting parents against local authorities, with both having to ‘make their case’. The tribunal system also creates inequalities, caused by the complexity of the process. Parents who have access to private legal support, or are better able to navigate the legal process themselves, are more likely to progress with this route as a result. This means that often more affluent areas of the country experience higher numbers of parents seeking to use tribunals, with the most deprived areas experiencing fewer, despite having higher proportions of children with SEND.

21. Oxfordshire County Council does not believe the tribunal system is good value for money and recommends that the government should explore alternative ways of finding a solution when there is a disagreement between parents and local authorities on the support a child requires. For instance, greater use of mediation before the need for a tribunal. Mediation can be quicker and less formal than a tribunal, which would support the system to become fairer and less adversarial, whilst also ensuring the young person was able to access appropriate support more quickly.

Finance, funding and capacity of SEND provision

High Needs Block and interventions required for long-term financial stability

22. In Oxfordshire, the High Needs Block accumulated deficit was £55.8m on 31 March 2024 and is expected to rise to £84.2m by the end of 2024/25, after taking account of a forecast deficit of £28.4m against High Needs DSG Funding. Within 2025/26, Oxfordshire County Council expects the deficit to reach over £100m. Because the spend is unfunded the council’s cash balances are forecast to be £84m lower by the end of 2024/25 than they would otherwise have been as a result of the overspend against the high needs block. The impact of this is an estimated opportunity cost of £3.4m in unearned interest in 2024/25 to add to cumulative unearned interest of £3.0m from 31 March 2024.

23. The Committee will already be aware of the evidence around the national picture of local authority SEND deficits, including from the damning NAO report[5], and the ISOS Partnership report ‘Towards an Effective and Financially Sustainable Approach to SEND in England’[6]. However, Oxfordshire County Council would like to press that due to the scale of the deficits, these debts should not be seen as local debt held by local authorities, but rather national debt that needs to be tackled across the system due to the changes following the Children and Families Act of 2014.

24. Analysis from the Society of County Treasurers (SCT) and the Association of Local Authority Treasurers (ALATS) found that if the statutory override expired as currently planned in March 2026, then the number of councils at risk of declaring bankruptcy increases by 60%. A total of 26 of the 38 county and rural unitary authorities would be at risk of issuing a Section 114 notice before 2027, including 18 authorities who would be insolvent ‘overnight’ in March 2026. Only four councils surveyed believed they could remain solvent by the end of the parliament if their SEND deficit was transferred to their revenue budget.

25. The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee inquiry into financial distress in local authorities[7] in February 2024, raised concerns about the long term efficacy of the current support programmes, such as the Safety Valve, to reduce this deficit saying: “While we appreciate that some efficiencies may be achievable, it is not realistic to expect local authorities to manage down deficits of the scale of many billions of pounds over a period of two or three years.”

26. Oxfordshire County Council agrees with the previous HCLG Committee that it is unrealistic to expect local authorities to be able to manage down such substantial deficits within a couple of years, let alone in conjunction with the other financial pressures they are facing.

27. Analysis from the SCT and ALATS also found that councils said writing off deficits up to 2026 or extending the statutory override alone will not deal with the fundamental financial challenges caused by the SEND system. Unchecked, the SEND deficits would continue to grow into 2026/27 by a further £1bn in county council areas, while nationally they could reach £8bn.

28. As a result, 95% of council chief executives who responded to the SCT and ALATS survey said ‘comprehensive and fundamental reform’ to the system is ‘essential’. However, with the system at breaking point ,these reforms will not be able to be implemented in time, so in the short-term more urgent interventions are needed to safeguard local authority finances.

Proposed actions to address funding

29. In order to get local authorities onto a stable financial footing where long-term SEND reform can take place, Oxfordshire County Council proposes three actions are needed:

1. The statutory override needs to be extended to give local authorities assurances in the short term to manage their deficits.
2. A government funded write-down or a write-off of the high needs block deficits across local authorities is required to get the situation under control. As highlighted by the SCT and ATALS many local authorities are in a critical situation and without intervention further Section 114 notices will be issued across the country.
3. Borrowing potential for local authorities needs to be explored, similar to the capitalisation directions used to support councils to manage equal pay costs. This will give local authorities the financial flexibility to settle any remaining deficits over an affordable period, by enabling them to raise funds.

30. Once the High Needs Block funding has been addressed, sustainable and long-lasting reforms can be explored to ensure young people’s needs are fully met in a sustainable way. This should include a focus towards supporting mainstream inclusion and building capacity in mainstream schools to meet children’s needs, helping to reduce the reliance on specialist school places. It would also involve broadening the curriculum so that it can deliver for those who might struggle to thrive under the current academic system.

Capital investment for SEND schools to reduce financial pressure

31. Whilst Oxfordshire County Council welcomes the announcement from the government in December 2024 of the £740m capital investment to support children and young people with SEND, or who require alternative provision, it simply does not go far enough to meet the needs of our young people.

32. In Oxfordshire, private providers of SEND education are around double the cost of a placement in special schools, with some placements costing the council over £100,000 a year each – approximately four times the cost. The NAO report highlighted that between 2018-19 and 2022-23, local authority spending on independent schools increased by 46% in real terms to £2bn. DfE calculates that independent schools, estimated at £61,500 per annum per pupil, continue to cost significantly more than other settings: with an average £19,100 to support children with an EHCP in mainstream secondary schools and £23,900 in state special schools. Despite this, the funding the council receives for each special school place has remained at £10,000 since 2014, despite rising costs.

33. Whilst the DfE has funded schools for the pay rises above inflation for teachers, challenges remain on funding to support non-teaching staff in special schools, and the impact of the living wage. There are also additional increasing costs that special schools face, such as energy costs for heating of hydrotherapy pools.

34. The cost of placements and running schools is not the only financial challenge posed by a lack of special schools. The shortage in special school provision also means that children are placed in schools further away from where they live, leading to increased costs for transport to and from school for authorities. This is due to the duties local authorities have in providing transport to and from school for certain children and young people, including those with special educational needs.

35. Oxfordshire County Council has been investing in special schools where it can, including committing to additional funding to support SEND services, and by providing an additional 300 special places available by 2028. We recognise that this does not go far enough, but without additional funding to cover capital costs, it is not possible for the council to create more places.

Conclusion

36. Oxfordshire County Council believes that the SEND system is fundamentally broken, with interconnected issues caused by the reforms in 2014 that create a vicious cycle of escalating costs, lack of appropriate support for children and young people, and a diminishing trust in the system from parents.

37. The increasing need of the system demonstrated by the rise in EHCPs, and lack of government funding to meet need, has put financial instability onto local government’s shoulders. This is exacerbated by the cost of tribunals, which often lead to expensive placements, straining already limited resources further.

38. With pressure outstripping capacity of local authorities, they are forced to place children in schools further away, driving up transport costs and putting even more pressure on budgets. The lack of investment in special school infrastructure not only limits the availability of suitable placements but also compounds the financial burden on councils.

39. Together, these elements create a cyclical problem: as needs and costs escalate, local authorities are forced to make difficult decisions. This, in turn, undermines the confidence of parents and children in the system, leading to increased dissatisfaction and pressure to deliver better outcomes that local authorities cannot afford to provide. Without substantial and targeted reforms, the cycle of inadequate support and escalating costs will continue.

40. Oxfordshire County Council believes that extending the statutory override, addressing high needs block deficits, and exploring borrowing options are crucial short-term measures to put local authorities on a stable financial footing. In the long-term, a shift towards inclusive education and enhanced support in mainstream schools is essential to breaking the cycle and creating a sustainable and effective system that meets the needs of all children and young people at every stage of their education journey.

January 2025