- the Council’s own budget (funded by council taxpayers)
- grants from the Government
- money from school, early years settings and college budgets
- from NHS Kent and Medway
It’s complicated and involves large sums of money that most of us will find hard to comprehend.
In this article, we explain how much we spend on SEND from the Council’s budget, how we spend the grants from the Government and what schools, early years settings and colleges are expected to fund from their own budgets.
The money spent on SEND services and support from the Council’s budget
We must pay for certain SEND services from the Council’s own budget (which is funded by council taxpayers). This includes:
- responding to requests to assess children and young people to decide if the evidence shows they may have needs complex enough to meet the threshold for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
- issuing EHC Plans to those who do meet the threshold
- supporting the annual review of EHC Plans (a duty which is delegated to schools, early years settings and colleges)
- the assessments and support services provided by the Educational Psychology Service, and
In the financial year 2023-24, this cost £17 million to provide.
Almost half of the almost 21,000 children and young people with an EHC Plan in Kent are also eligible for transport support and this, too, is paid from the Council budget. In 2023 -24 this cost almost £70 million.
We also spent more than £14 million in 2023-24 towards paying off the overspend on the SEND budget which had built up over a number of years because we spent more money on SEND than the amount the Government had given us. This payment was one of the reasons that council tax increased this year (2024-25).
How Government money is spent
The Government funds schools, early years settings and colleges through grants. It provides these grants to us for state-funded schools and settings, or directly to schools and education settings that are academies.
They provide the Early Years Grant, the High Needs Funding Grant (which is the biggest pot of money for SEND), the Schools Block, Capital Funding for school buildings and the Adult Skills Fund.
Early Years Grant
In 2023-24, we spent more than £1 million on payments to early years settings (including nurseries and pre-schools) to support young children with SEND.
High Needs Funding Block
This is the main SEND grant which was £316 million in 2023-24. Primary and secondary schools topped up the money available by another £12 million, bringing the money available to £328 million. Most of this funding goes to schools, early years settings and colleges.
The money in this pot is used to:
- pay for the support agreed in a child’s or young person’s EHC Plan
- enable us to find an appropriate school place for children and young people with SEND. This will typically be in mainstream schools and colleges, and, in a small number of cases, in independent private schools
- provide money to primary and secondary for SEND support, where they make a case for extra money for pupils who they consider need additional help but who wouldn’t necessarily meet the threshold for an EHC Plan (£15 million was spent on SEND support in 2023-24)
- pay for alternative provision where children do not attend school because they may be ill, excluded from school or for other reasons
- paying for the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service who support pupils with visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical disability and those with complex medical needs
- provide support services for schools and families that we don’t have a legal duty to provide but choose to do so to increase the support available. This includes additional support provided by the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service and our Inclusion Advisors, who advise schools on practical steps to remove barriers to learning (physical, psychological, or emotional) and on including and welcoming children with additional needs or disabilities. It also includes extra money for some schools who have a higher proportion of children identified with SEND. More than £10 million was spent in 2023-24.
Schools Block
This grant is the money for all state-funded primary and secondary school budgets in Kent (this includes Kent maintained schools, schools in academy trusts and free schools) and was £1.2 billion in 2023-24.
In agreement with school and academy representatives (the School Funding Forum) 1.2% of this budget (that’s £12 million) was transferred to the High Needs Block because we are having to spend more than the money the Government gives us in the High Needs Funding Block.
Schools are expected to pay for and support children with SEND from their school budgets. The Government requires local authorities to identity for each primary and secondary school an amount to guide schools in their spending of additional support for the schools’ pupils with SEND.
Capital funding
From 2021 until this financial year, 2024-25, we received £75 million from the Government for school building improvements. By the end of 2023/24 we had allocated just over £60 million to 48 different SEN building projects.
Some of the more significant schemes include:
- Expansion of Snowfields Special School through 2 new satellite schools in Cranbrook and on Sheppey
- Expansion of Whitfield Aspen Primary school’s provision for children with SEND
- Expansion of places at Nexus Special School
- Expansion of The Beacon Special School with a new 240 place provision on the Walmer site
- Expansion of Meadowfields Special School through a new satellite building on Fulston Manor secondary school site.
- Council contributions to the two new special schools in Swanley and Whitstable which the Government is building.
In 2023/24, some of the main schemes that were funded this way included:
- Expansion of places for children with autism through a new Callum Centre at Canterbury Primary Academy
- Expansion of Five Acre Wood Special School
- Expansion of Stone Bay Special school through adding a Reception class.
Adult Skills Fund
Our Community Learning Service has increased the courses on SEND it provides for parents, in response to requests from them.
Almost 21,000 children in Kent have an ECH Plan
SEND provision in state-funded schools and other education settings
All schools must support and educate children with additional needs and SEND. The Government makes sure schools have money in their budgets to do this through the National Funding Formula.
Colleges also have their own budgets to support students with SEND. If they need more money for students with complex needs (those with an EHC Plan), they can ask us for extra funds.
When we talk about funding for education support for children and young people with SEND in state-funded schools, colleges, and other settings, this is usually divided into three levels or 'elements'.
- Element 1 covers costs for every child or young person in early years settings, schools, or colleges. It pays for things like the school building and class teachers, and is part of the school's budget.
- Element 2 is part of the budget for children with additional needs, including SEND, in schools and colleges. The government expects schools and colleges to spend up to £6,000 from their own budgets on each child or young person with additional needs. This money is for early support, like small group or individual help, or special equipment.
- Element 3, or 'top-up' funding, is extra money needed beyond Element 1 and 2 for students with High Needs to enable them to take part in education and training. This funding is provided by us through the High Needs Grant.
If you are interested in how your local school provides support from within their budget, you should be able to find details in their SEN Information Report which they will publish on their website.
