Council's SEN funding cut criticised by academy trusts

The funding currently supports pupils in mainstream schools that require additional support

A council's decision to cut some special educational needs (SEN) funding will lead to "significant redundancies" and an increase in exclusions, a group of academy trusts has warned.

Norfolk County Council has reduced its element three funding, known as top-up funding, which supports SEN pupils in mainstream schools.

Five academy trusts signed a joint letter sent to the council, which warned that children could be "extremely negatively impacted" as a result.

The authority said it had previously made a "deliberate and very substantial additional investment" in top-up funding and that "all public budgets have a finite limit".

Top-up funding supports children in mainstream schools that need additional support.

Schools often employ extra staff to help pupils with learning, as well as physical tasks.

Oliver Burwood, the CEO of the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT) – which co-signed the letter – said his group of 42 schools was now expected to receive £1m less funding from September.

"A 48% reduction will be disastrous for our schools, and more importantly, disastrous for those youngsters who are entitled to that support," he said.

"Without that funding we don't have a magic money tree or another source of income so we cannot employ those staff."

Oliver Burwood said his schools need more time to prepare for the funding reduction

Other academy trusts that signed the letter included St Benet’s Multi-Academy Trust, St John the Baptist Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, Synergy Multi-Academy Trust and Broad Horizons Education Trust.

The joint letter also criticised the council's timing of the announcement.

It read: "The timing leaves us with no ability to plan to 'do different' with the reduced funding for next year.

"Although redundancies will be our only option to achieve a balanced budget, we do not even have time to implement this for many of the affected staff before September, given that many will have notice periods of up to 12 weeks.”

The letter said a lack of available support could mean more pupils were excluded, leading to "huge costs" for the council.

A spokesperson for the Norfolk County Council, which is a Conservative-led authority, said it had made a "deliberate and very substantial additional investment" in its top-up budget over the past three years.

"Last year in 2023/24 the number of applications from schools for this funding exceeded all previous rates of referral and led to a total allocated of around £36m (an overspend of more than £12m)," the spokesperson said.

"We are committed to continuing to invest in SEND whilst delivering a long-term plan which in time can bring costs down.

"All public budgets have a finite limit and so we need to make a change as a system."

The council insisted it was increasing its overall SEND budget and that cuts to top-up funding were expected to impact the first two terms of the new academic year.

Norfolk County Council said schools have been receiving more top-up funding "than ever before"

Earlier this month, the BBC discovered that councils in England faced a shortfall of almost £1bn in special educational needs funding.

Central government support was being outstripped by a rise in demand, the investigation found.

Brian Watkins, the leader of the Liberal Democrats group at Norfolk County Council, said: "Norfolk's SEND provision is already at breaking point, these cuts push many schools closer to the cliff edge.

"Unfortunately, this is yet another failing of this Conservative's administration to ensure the most vulnerable of Norfolk's children are afforded the same opportunities as everyone else."

Mike Smith-Clare, a Labour county councillor, added: "Just about everything about this is wrong - it will add more costs elsewhere, damage the learning and future of young people who need additional support, wreck the plans of schools and their capacity for future years and cause untold worry to families that have already been under the cosh because of the failings in SEND provision."

While Jamie Osborn, a Green Party county councillor, said: "Every child deserves access to education that meets their needs, and it is highly disappointing that the Conservatives at Norfolk County Council are failing to provide for the children who need support the most.

"It is also a sign of the damage that privatisation of schools via academies has done that SEN children are now at risk of being excluded."