Nearly £5m invested in Surrey SEND provision

Surrey County Council is investing another £4.9m into the provision of special educational needs

An extra £4.9m is to be invested in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) education in Surrey.

Surrey County Council's (SCC) cabinet approved the funding on Wednesday, with the money being used to recruit more staff and speed up processes.

The authority said despite the extra investment, more funding and reform of the whole system was needed from national government.

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

The extra money will be used to pay for 30 assessment officers, who will work directly with parents as part of a new education, health and care needs assessment team.

The team working directly with families and schools will increase from 81 to 111.

It is hoped a new mediation and dispute resolution team will cut the number of families needing to go to a tribunal by half.

Once the changes have been fully implemented, the council said it will have 231 staff in total working in its statutory SEND service.

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The council has been criticised by Surrey MPs and parents, who say they have been let down by the authority, with its leader issuing a public apology in 2024.

The council said there were about 46,000 children in Surrey with SEND needs, with 16,871 having an education, health and care plan, more than double the number in 2018, and up 10.5% on 2024.

The council's SEND provision has been severely criticised in the past

Jonathan Hulley, cabinet member for children, families and lifelong learning, said: "Provision and support for children with additional needs is a systemic issue that councils up and down the country are grappling with.

"We welcome urgent government reform of the SEND system and we have made it clear to ministers that, alongside these extensive and positive steps we are taking locally, national SEND reform and additional funding is needed urgently."

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