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<p>The department closely monitors a range of data and intelligence to assess the
operation and delivery of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.
This includes data on:</p><ul><li>special educational needs in schools via the annual
collection of data from schools</li><li>the numbers of new assessments, plans and
placements</li><li>local authority expenditure and dedicated schools grant assessment
on spend/financial sustainability including Section 251 returns</li><li>feedback from
local authorities and the Parent and Pupil Panel survey</li><li>inspection or revisit
reports from the local area SEND inspections undertaken by Ofsted and Care Quality
Commission (CQC).</li></ul><p> </p><p>The government recognises that the current SEND
system does not deliver the outcomes we want or expect for children and young people
with SEND, their families or the people and services who support them. The SEND Review
is seeking to improve the outcomes for children, with high expectations and ambitions.
We need to build a financially sustainable system, where there is clear accountability.
The Review will publish as a green paper for full public consultation in the first
three months of 2022.</p><p>The department, with SEND advisers and NHS England advisers,
provides support and challenge to 89 local authority/health/social care areas who,
following their Ofsted and CQC inspection or revisit, were required to produce a written
statement of action (71 local authorities) or accelerated progress plan (19 local
authorities) to improve the local areas’ ability to meet their statutory duties as
set out in the SEND Code of Practice. In addition, the department commissions specialist
support from delivery partners and delivers training programmes to local authorities,
health and social care staff across the country on their statutory assessment duties.</p><p>We
recognise that pressures on high needs budgets have contributed to some local authorities
finding it difficult to manage their dedicated schools grant funding.</p><p>By financial
year 2021-22, annual funding allocations to local authorities for high needs will
have increased by more than £2 billion, or one third, since 2019-20. As a result of
the recent Spending Review, overall funding for the core schools budget, from which
high needs funding is drawn, will increase by a further £4.7 billion by financial
year 2024-25, compared to previous plans, representing further real terms per pupil
increase each year. We will announce how that increase will be split between mainstream
schools and high needs in due course.</p>
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