The funding, announced today by children’s minister Edward Timpson at the Future of SEN conference, will support councils to implement the changes, and comes after concerns were raised that some were struggling to be fully ready to meet the deadline.
Ann Gross, director of special needs and children’s services strategy at the Department for Education, has written to councils informing them of the funding. The letter reveals that local authorities will receive a share of £45.2m in 2014/15, with £31.7m set aside for 2015/16.
Gross has told local authorities that the funding can be used to pay for any costs incurred by implementing the changes, such as transferring children and young people with SEN from the statementing system to the new education, health and care plans (EHC).
She wrote: “Local authorities can spend this grant to help with the additional costs associated with the implementation of the SEN reforms.
“They may, however, choose how to spend the money in order to best meet local need.”
The letter reveals that the first round of funding will be paid in four instalments between August this year and February 2015.
A breakdown of the funding for 2014/15 reveals that the amount allocated varies substantially between local authorities. Kent County Council will receive the most funding – £1m – while the City of London and Isles of Scilly councils will receive just £25,000.
Christine Lenehan, director of Council for Disabled Children, has welcomed the news.
She said: "We welcome the long overdue announcement of the SEN implementation grant for local authorities to help them meet their new duties as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
"However, with the financial pressures that local authorities are facing we hope they will ensure that the funding they receive is spent on the SEN reforms."
The funding is in addition to a £70m SEN reform grant unveiled by Timpson in December last year, which is designed to help councils prepare for the reforms.
The SEN reforms, introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, will see a raft of changes to the way local authorities work with children and young people with SEN.
Key changes include the introduction of a “local offer” and new EHC plans to co-ordinate support for all children and young people aged up to 25, replacing statements of SEN.
A number of local authorities have piloted the reforms over the past few years to help remaining areas to get the assessment and support systems in place for September.
Stephen Kingdom, deputy director of SEN and disability at the DfE, recently revealed that 80 per cent of authorities have reported that they were “very or reasonably confident” in being ready for the start of the new school year.
