County Send funding deficit could reach £243m

Conservative councillor Chris Whitbread said a "sustainable funding solution" had to be found

A deficit in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) funding in Essex could reach £243m by 2028-29, a council has warned.

Essex County Council has been under fire over its ability to assess children's needs, but has made improvements since ranking as England's worst performing authority for this in 2024.

Chris Whitbread, the council's cabinet member for finance, told a meeting at County Hall that a medium-term "sustainable funding solution" must be found.

The government announced in March that £740m would be spent creating 10,000 new school places for children with Send.

Youngsters who may have additional needs must receive an assessment for an educational health care plan (EHCP) within 20 weeks.

However, it was found in March that only one in four children in Essex were seen before this legal time period had passed.

That still represented an improvement from March 2024, when 1% of children were assessed within 20 weeks.

Rival councillors accused the Conservatives of "under-investment" in SEND

Conservative councillor Whitbread told the meeting earlier: "Children's placements are costing more due to market pressures and support.

"Support for children with special educational needs is far exceeding government funding provided."

Independent councillor Michael Hoy told the council chamber there had been "years of underinvestment" and parents were "still fighting to get EHCPs on time".

He accused the Conservative-led authority of spending too much money on "bureaucracy and PR".

Labour member Ivan Henderson added that services would have been in a better position if 74 children's centres were not cut in the 2010s by the Tories.

Speaking at a different point in the meeting, Whitbread stressed the council was in a "strong and stable" financial position overall.

It was forecasting an overspend of £5.6m in the 2025-26 financial year, which represented about 0.5% of the council's £1.2bn budget.

"That's a big improvement compared to this time last year," Whitbread added.