Ministers are under pressure to clarify how they will fund a £6bn shortfall in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) spending in England, after the Office for Budget Responsibility highlighted the gap. The government plans to overhaul the system, with a white paper due in early 2026, but has not yet specified how the costs will be covered.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Labour MPs on Thursday that extra Send costs would not fall on core schools funding but on the overall government budget. She suggested the OBR's presentation was misleading and that reforms would bring down costs, for example by creating more local specialist places to reduce reliance on expensive private provision.
The OBR warned of a £6bn funding hole in 2028-29, rising to £9bn by 2030-31, on top of £14bn of cumulative extra spending since 2020 held off balance sheets by councils. The watchdog described it as a 'significant fiscal risk', equivalent to a 4.9% cut in per-pupil schools funding.
Labour MP Helen Hayes, chair of the education committee, said the deficits were a symptom of a wider crisis and called for 'urgent clarity' on how reform will be delivered. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the government has three options: reduce Send spending growth, give the Department for Education more money, or cut schools budgets.
The Treasury has declined to clarify where the money will come from, and changes to the system are unlikely to cover the entire deficit. The issue is a major concern for Labour MPs, with parents already struggling to access support.
