Isle Of Wight Council Bid To Increase SEND Funding Is Rejected By Government

An attempt to put a higher percentage of funding into special education learning by the Isle of Wight Council has been rejected by the government. The local authority was looking to increase special education needs and disabilities (SEND) funding in schools by an additional one per cent — or £731,400 — to fill a hole in the SEND budget. In previous years, the council has transferred 0.5 per cent of the mainstream schools block to the SEND budget but further pressures on the budget, an overspend and existing deficit, meant the authority were seeking to bring the transfer to 1.5 per cent. Island headteachers voted against the move in an extraordinary meeting of the Schools’ Forum in December and now Gavin Williamson, the secretary of state for education, has rejected the increased transfer. The Isle of Wight Council was among 21 other local authorities across the country to have its proposed transfer refused. There has been rising demand for SEN support on the Island and while funding given to the Island has increased in the dedicated schools grant, an Isle of Wight Council report said the transfers to help the high needs block had not been sufficient enough to meet cost pressures. A predicted budget deficit of the 2019/20 school year in the high needs block was £2.056 million — due to more personal education budgets being needed and topped up funding for SEN support in mainstream schools. The Isle of Wight receives one of the smallest dedicated schools grants in the country — getting £98.3 million for the next school year, 2020/21. If the 1.5 per cent transfer was approved,  £1.1 million would have been added to the SEN budget — bringing the total to more than £17 million. An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said: “Nationally, there are pressures on the high needs block budget in almost all local authorities. “This is due to a rising number of children with education, health and care plans (EHCP) across the country. The high needs budget provides finance to help schools meet the special education needs of children and young people. “The percentage of children with EHCPs on the Isle of Wight is higher than the national average which makes the budgetary pressure on the Island more acute. “The local authority has been working closely with headteachers to collectively manage the pressure on the budget, while continuing to support schools’ interventions funded from this budget. “These measures include: Limiting the amount of additional discretionary funding available to schools from the high needs block, as more funding is now being provided directly to schools, through the new funding formula, to help them meet all children and young people’s needs. Working with our partners in the health service to submit a bid to access additional funding available to support children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs and encouraging schools to collectively commission discretionary support from their budgets. Reviewing all expenditure from this block through stringent financial controls and capping the amount of funding available to schools where there are exceptional circumstances. “The Isle of Wight Council is confident that these measures will help to manage the budget pressures and enable the Island to continue to offer the highest quality support and provision for children and young people with special needs. “The government is also carrying out a review of special educational needs and its funding. Senior leaders from the council have pressed home the case for additional funding for the Island in this area of schools’ budgets.”