The Government has announced a £4bn investment to expand specialist support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The funding aims to make mainstream schools more inclusive by providing earlier, tailored help for pupils with additional needs, including small-group interventions and adaptive teaching.
A new Inclusive Mainstream Fund of £1.6bn over three years will directly support early years settings, schools and colleges. A further £1.8bn will create an ‘Experts at Hand’ service, establishing a bank of specialists such as SEND teachers and speech and language therapists available locally for schools to draw on.
The Government says this approach will reduce the need for pupils to travel long distances for support and end a ‘one size fits all’ system by embedding help in every community.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘Children with SEND deserve a system that lifts them up, and that puts no limit on what they can go on to achieve.
‘That means brilliant teachers and experts providing support where children need it, when they need it – in their local school, without families having to fight.
‘These reforms are a watershed moment for a generation of young people and generations to come, and a major milestone in this Government’s mission to make sure opportunity is for each and every child.’
The investment comes as the Government prepares to unveil its long-awaited schools white paperEvery Child Achieving and Thriving, which the Department for Education says will deliver ‘generational reforms’ to the SEND system.
Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), said: ‘For improved mainstream inclusion to be successful, all settings need to be empowered and resourced to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, with a workforce that has the capacity and right skills.
‘Councils have a key role to play and will need powers to lead local SEND systems and to hold health and education partners to account, to make sure they are meeting children’s needs.’
She added: ‘The LGA looks forward to studying, responding and working with Government and partners on the white paper to ensure it meets the needs of children and their families.’
