Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is attempting to quell a growing rebellion among Labour MPs over a looming £6 billion black hole in special educational needs funding, controversially accusing the government's independent financial forecasters of being 'misleading'.
A Budget Announcement and a Backlash
The political storm erupted after Wednesday's Budget, where the Government revealed that future council overspends on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) would be absorbed by central departments. In response, the Treasury-funded Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) issued a stark warning, stating the £6 billion required for the 2028-29 period could severely eat into existing school budgets.
The analysis prompted immediate concern, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies reinforcing that this financial gap could only be addressed by either cutting general schools spending, reducing SEND provision, or finding the money from another, as yet unidentified, source.
Phillipson's Defence and Union Fury
Facing an outcry from her own MPs, Bridget Phillipson took to WhatsApp to send reassurances. She insisted the OBR's content was 'being presented in a way which is quite misleading'. In the messages, revealed by Politics Home, she claimed the money would be sourced from the 'overall Government' budget, not the core schools budget, and that savings would be achieved through upcoming SEND reforms.
These reforms, detailed in an upcoming white paper, are expected to propose measures such as creating more local specialist places to reduce the demand for travel and more expensive private provision, thereby 'bringing cost down'.
However, Phillipson's woes were dramatically compounded when Britain's largest teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU), threatened nationwide strike action. NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede declared the Budget 'offers nothing to an education system running on empty'.
The Looming Threat of Industrial Action
The union's anger stems from a lack of reassurance that an upcoming teacher pay rise—suggested by the Government to be 6.5% spread between 2026 and 2029—will be fully funded. The NEU fears schools will be forced to pay for it from their existing, already stretched budgets, leading to cutbacks and potential redundancies.
Leaders of the NEU will meet this Saturday to discuss starting strike ballot procedures. If they proceed, up to 500,000 teachers could walk out in the autumn of next year, causing widespread school closures and disruption for parents.
The political and educational fallout is severe. Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott MP labelled the situation a 'hidden £6 billion black hole' that threatens teacher redundancies. Meanwhile, policy experts like Iain Mansfield of Policy Exchange warned of a 'ticking time bomb' within the education budget, citing out-of-control SEND spending.
