I am hugely indebted to a very wise parent who has written this piece for the blog on the funding reforms which affect every school.
When reading this, it is important to remember that whatever is being provided at School Action and School Action Plus level [categories which are due for abolition with the Children and Families Bill] is not legally enforceable. Only Statements are legally binding. This makes it essential that Statements are worded unambiguously [see 'What should be in a statement?']. Provision must be quantified and specified in terms of hours of support, staffing arrangements, therapy input, professionals involved, hours per term etc. Note further that there is no 'cap' on what amount of money is needed to fund a Statement: SEN provision is about meeting the child's individual SEN.
When reading this, it is important to remember that whatever is being provided at School Action and School Action Plus level [categories which are due for abolition with the Children and Families Bill] is not legally enforceable. Only Statements are legally binding. This makes it essential that Statements are worded unambiguously [see 'What should be in a statement?']. Provision must be quantified and specified in terms of hours of support, staffing arrangements, therapy input, professionals involved, hours per term etc. Note further that there is no 'cap' on what amount of money is needed to fund a Statement: SEN provision is about meeting the child's individual SEN.
SEN Funding reform: what difference does it make?
Background
Parents of
children with SEN frequently get drawn into discussions about the cost of provision
for their child. They are often assured
that their child’s provision is ‘very expensive’ and that there isn’t a single
child in the County who gets as much support as they do. Other parents are told that funding ‘is not
their concern’ but often feel that they are being dismissed, rather than reassured that their child’s needs will be met, whatever the cost.
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So, in one sense, funding is irrelevant. However, some parents like to know the nuts
and bolts of SEN provision. To
understand the new funding arrangements, it’s helpful to understand the old
funding arrangements.
How was it?
Why change it?
The
Government felt that this system was too complicated, too confusing and did not
achieve the aim of high-quality SEN provision.
The document
“School Funding Reform: Next steps towards a fairer system.” Says:
“These
reforms aim to encourage the development of high-quality and innovative
provision, to improve transparency, and, particularly in relation to SEN, to
empower young people and their families and to increase choice.
3.1.2. To
achieve this, we need a set of funding arrangements for pupils and students
with high needs that is responsive to the needs of individual pupils and
students, and is supported by clear information in the form of a local offer
about the high needs provision available in schools, colleges and other
providers. Furthermore, we must avoid perpetuating or creating potential
perverse financial incentives that may prevent young people receiving the
educational experience that is right for them.
3.1.3. The current funding system falls some way short of this.
Since different types of providers are funded in different ways for high needs
provision, the current system contains potential perverse financial incentives
to place pupils and students in one type of provider over another. Furthermore,
the complexity in the current funding arrangements means it is difficult for
young people and their families to understand what provision is available to
them and to exercise meaningful choice.
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In other
words, the Government aims to ‘level the playing field’ across providers of SEN
provision.
What now?
In School Funding Reform: Next stepstowards a fairer system, the Government has defined ‘High Needs Pupils’.
“3.1.8. In
July, we proposed to define high needs pupils and students as those requiring
provision costing more than around £10,000 per year. We deliberately chose a
financial threshold to define a pupil or student with high needs, as opposed to
an assessment-based threshold – such as having a statement of special
educational needs (SEN) – since the latter could create perverse incentives if
assessment was linked directly to additional funding. For example, this could
create additional pressure for unnecessary statutory assessments.
3.1.9. High needs pupils and students include:
a) pupils aged from birth to 19 with high-levels of SEN in schools, Academies or other settings;
a) pupils aged from birth to 19 with high-levels of SEN in schools, Academies or other settings;
b) those aged 16-25 with high-level learning difficulties or
disabilities (LDD) in FE; and,
c)
school-age pupils placed in AP.”
So, the
definition of ‘High Needs pupil’ is ‘costs more than £10,000 per year to
educate.’ Funding has been reformed
using the High Needs Funding Matrix and is as follows:
Mainstream Schools:
Will get their usual funding from school budget. A sample Budget Share shows each element. They
will get a delegated budget for SEN, based on the number of children in the
school, deprivation indexes and ‘low attainment’ calculations. A sample Notional SEN Budget shows each element.
Schools who
have children with ‘high needs’, defined as costing £10,000 or more to educate,
will need to use £6,000 of their Notional SEN budget, plus the ‘Age-weighted Pupil Unit’ value from the main budget. The Local Authority will make up the rest of
the agreed cost. For example, Child A
needs provision costing £15,000. Using
the budgets above, the school gets £2,470.59
per pupil. They would need to use this
amount, plus £6,000 from their Notional SEN Budget. This totals £8,470.59. The Local Authority would top-up the school
with the remaining £6,529.41.
Special Schools,
High Needs Units or Resourced Provision : These types of provision get ‘Place
led funding’ rather than ‘Main block’ and ‘SEN’ budgets. They will get £10,000 per pupil. Any provision in excess of £10,000 will be
topped up by the Local Authority.
Alternative
Provision: These provisions will also be given ‘place led funding’, but will
receive £8,000 per pupil, with the LA topping up any provision in excess of
£8,000.
What
difference does it make?
For most people, the changes in financing SEN provision will make no
difference at all. The SEN Code of
Practice is clear that children with SEN must have their needs met. However, there are some benefits:
- No longer can Local Authorities hide behind bandings/incidence/diagnosis or categorisation of Statements. The bottom line is that schools must use their budgets to meet the first £6,000 of needs and then the LA has to make up the rest of the cost.
- Comparing different provisions should be much easier – the ‘cost’ of such provisions has been made level.
- It may be helpful to get confirmation in writing from the school that your child is receiving as much as they can provide under delegated funding.