When this ‘statutory override’ ends in March 2026 SEND deficits will be added to their overall debt “leaving hundreds of councils in a financially precarious position”, according to a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.
It had previously asked the government to resolve this problem by March this year but “no solution had yet been brought forward at the time of this report”.
By the end of 2027/28, councils’ SEND overspend could be between £2.9bn-£3.9bn per year, says the committee.
According to Department for Education data for the 2024/25 academic year the number of pupils with SEND has risen by 5.6% to total more than 1.7mn, meaning a record nearly one in five of pupils in England (19.6%) are getting support for special educational needs.
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