Concern raised over SEND private school costs

FOI requests showed KCC paid for 1,687 SEND pupils in private schools, according to an education expert

The cost of sending children with special educational needs to private schools has tripled in the past five years, according to an education expert.

Peter Read said the "exorbitant expenditure" by Kent County Council (KCC) included one pupil who cost £350,000 a year and 10 others with a bill of more than £200,000 each.

Mr Read said figures obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests showed the provision cost £28m in 2019, soaring to £84m in 2022-23.

KCC said “financial sustainability” was “a key concern”.

KCC has been seeking ways to cut the cost of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It is is among 38 English councils signed up to a deal after big deficits on high-needs budgets.

A draft SEND Continuum of Need, published earlier this month, identified the need for mainstream schools to do more for children with special needs.

Mr Read, a former Kent grammar school head, said one of authority’s main problems was “the exorbitant expenditure on private special schools”.

His FOI requests showed KCC paid for 1,687 SEND pupils in private schools.

But he said the problem was “not fixable” due both to the cost of private schools and also the “cost” of Covid.

“This has created a considerable amount of special needs which is working its way through the system," he explained.

“There are still children who, as a result of Covid, have serious long-term mental health conditions."

KCC said it was working “collaboratively with leaders to find ways to distribute funding in a more equitable, efficient and impactful way to benefit both pupils and schools".

It said "financial sustainability" was "a key concern" and it was "encouraged to see evidence is now emerging of the improvements that are being made to the SEND system".