Council billed £2.5m for pupil with special needs

The LGA said the costs of educating pupils with special needs had "spiralled"

A specialist school has billed a local council almost £2.5m for the education of a single child with special needs.

Stafford Hall School, in Halifax, charged Leeds City Council for the placement, which spans several years and includes accommodation on-site for the child in question, council data shows.

The council said that the amount spent on schooling pupils with special education needs and disability (SEND) varied on a case-by-case basis, while the Local Government Association (LGA) said costs in the sector were "spiralling".

The primary school declined to comment when approached by the BBC.

It is understood the money will be paid incrementally, but it comes at a time the city council, like many across the country, is facing a financial crisis.

The council has to find £65m worth of savings ahead of its budget for the next financial year.

Leeds City Council said the costs of meeting a young person's education needs varied widely

Councils say rising demand and spiralling costs related to looking after the most vulnerable children and adults are stretching their resources to breaking point.

Stafford Hall is run by Young Foundations Ltd and was rated by Ofsted as "requires improvement" in 2021. That was then upgraded to "good" following a report earlier this year.

The £2.5m figure contrasts starkly with other typical spends on placements for pupils with special needs.

For example, Leeds City Council spent a combined £1m on placements for four individual children in the same week as the Stafford Hall deal was signed off.

All of those were multi-year placements.

According to its website, Stafford Hall caters for children who have "autism, severe and complex learning difficulties and who exhibit associated challenging behaviours".

It opened in 2015 and can accommodate up to 12 young people between the ages of 11 and 19 at any one time.

'Huge' strain on budgets

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said its spending on placements covered the "lifetime of the contracts" it has with schools.

They added: "The costs also represent the specific specialist education, health, and care needs for these young people which vary on a case-by-case basis.

"Leeds City Council always ensures that decisions around independent school placement for pupils with EHC (education, health and care) plans are made in line with the relevant legislative requirements."

Councillor Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: "Councils continue to face significant challenges managing the ever-increasing rise in demand for support from children with SEND.

"To help alleviate the huge strain they are under, we are calling on the government to use the upcoming local government financial settlement to eliminate councils’ high needs deficits, which have arisen as a result of the spiralling costs of providing support outstripping the SEND budgets available to councils."

Stafford Hall was asked why it had charged a £2.5m fee and whether or not this was typical of what it would normally charge for a single child.

The school declined to comment.

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