DfE bids to plug SEND funding gap in Spending Round

The briefing document, reportedly marked "Official-Sensitive", details £3.5bn plans that may be announced in the Spending Round, which after being delayed earlier this month by Chancellor Sajid Javid, has now been brought forward to 4 September.

The paper, under discussion between the Department for Education and No 10, also includes a controversial package to crack down on pupil behaviour and a renewed emphasis on exclusions - with concerns that pupils with SEND could be further marginalised.

The SEND funding gap - estimated to be £800m this year, rising to £1.6bn by 2021 - has left councils across the country unable to meet their statutory obligations to children who need extra educational support, according to a recent judicial review claim against the government.

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Support for head teachers who use "reasonable force" in their efforts to improve discipline, as well as banning mobile phones is also included in the briefing.

There are also suggestions of plans for a new wave of free schools, including alternative provision schools for excluded children.

In further controversial moves, there is a suggestion that the number of teaching assistants could also be cut.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said the plans would be confirmed in the Spending Review, adding that any extra money would be welcomed.

"The problem is this just isn't enough. It will not make enough of a difference to counteract the scale of funding cuts that schools have already experienced."

Bousted added that schools and colleges need £12.6bn by 2022/23 to fix the funding crisis. 

"Boris Johnson's leadership election pledge falls £8bn short of what is needed."

Proposals for allowing teachers to use "reasonable force" are also dangerous, according to the NEU.

Force "implies additional kinds of physical contact", said Bousted, adding: "This seems dangerously open to interpretation - what one person considers to be ‘reasonable' another person may not. We don't want teachers exercising reasonable force, we want well-disciplined schools which are well funded.

"Exclusion is a sometimes necessary, unfortunate option that a school and a school leader must be able to take. The danger with giving such a broad green light to exclusion, is that children who already need education the most are most likely to be denied it."

Bousted also blasted the proposal to cut teaching assistants. "Teaching assistants play an essential role in the classroom and school," she said.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, criticised as "incomprehensible" the absence of early years funding in the document, in the face of what he said was a £662 million sector shortfall.

"We are extremely concerned that early years education failed to get a mention at all in the leaked government document about schools funding," said Leitch, adding: "The sector, which is responsible for educating and caring for children at the most important stage in their development, is in the midst of a funding crisis.

"If government doesn't invest properly in this sector now, childcare providers will continue to close their doors for good, reducing the number of government funded places and potentially denying parents the opportunity to work."

He said that the shortfall needed to be "urgently" addressed.