Health and education bosses urge Hertfordshire MPs to pressure Government for more SEND funding
Hertfordshire MPs are being urged to support the case for additional funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The politicians highlighted the challenges being faced by families in a parliamentary debate last month (September).
Now education and health officials have joined forces to urge them to make the case for national reform and additional funding, in advance of Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s Autumn Statement.
The letter to MPs, including Hertford and Stortford’s Josh Dean, has been signed by leader of the county council Richard Roberts, chief executive officer of the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust Elliot Howard-Jones and chair of the Hertfordshire Schools Forum Alan Gray.
They say: “On behalf of children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers – as well as professionals across local government, the NHS and education on the frontline of Hertfordshire’s work to improve the support these families receive – we are calling on you to be their voice in Parliament,” says the letter sent to all Hertfordshire MPs.
“Please join us in making the case for systemic, national reform and additional funding ahead of the Autumn Statement and beyond so we can together help children and young people with SEND in our county get the help they need now so they can reach their full potential in the future.”
Making the case for additional funding and policy reform, the letter highlights the growing need for support for children and young people with SEND in the county.
It says demand for SEND support in Hertfordshire has increased by 223% since 2015 – without an increase in “high needs” funding to match.
Hertfordshire is now the “fourth lowest funded council for high needs” – “facing a £24m deficit in this budget”.
The letter warns high needs funding “is unequally distributed based on an outdated formula which is not keeping pace with current need”.
It calls for a revision of the national funding formula and an uplift in high needs funding “to address structural funding deficit in the system”.
Meanwhile, the letter also points to the absence of an increase in council funding to account for NHS pay awards, even though – it says – NHS staff are required to support children.
It says councils must be given sufficient funding for the provision and review of Education Health and Care Plans – pointing to an additional £7m invested from “wider county council resources” in order to “bridge the gap”.
It also argues for “sufficient” funding to be available for NHS children’s health services – pointing to the “unprecedented demand” for NHS services “on top of the need to address backlogs for children and young people experiencing developmental needs”.
The letter also points to the need to reform policy, to enable inclusion and to the national workforce strategy – pointing to a shortage of therapists, paediatricians and educational psychologists.
And – in the wake of the SEND Local Area inspection in July 2023 – it catalogues measures that have been taken to improve services in the county.
Among the measures highlighted are the recruitment of 130 new staff to focus on Education Health and Care Plans, the improved timeliness of new EHCPs and improvements to the Integrated Therapy Service.
“By delivering millions of pounds of additional investment and radically transforming the way in which we work, bringing in more staff with lived experience of SEND we aim to truly transform young people and families’ experiences,” says the letter.
“However, our SEND services, like those delivered by local areas up and down the country, continue to face a perfect storm of underfunding, increasing need, and workforce challenges, understandably leading to delays and dissatisfaction.”