English Councils Struggle With Rising Cost of Special Needs Kids

Ballooning spending on children with special educational needs and disabilities is putting England’s already stretched local councils under even more financial strain, adding urgency to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plans to reform the system.

Across the country, cumulative overspends on the so-called SEND program were forecast to double to £8 billion ($10.6 billion) by 2027 from about £4 billion in March, according to a report earlier this year by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. At the root of the increase are so-called education, health and care plans — legal documents known as EHCPs introduced in 2014 that set out the tailored support councils must provide to individual pupils to cater for their needs.