Autumn 2024 Budget

On 30 October, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered her first Budget.  Her statement included important announcements for children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families, including

    • An additional £1billion for SEND provision
    • Increases in school and college funding
    • Increasing the funding for breakfast clubs
    • Additional funding for local government
    • Changes to Carers’ Allowance, so carers can earn more before losing the allowance

This is good news, which we welcome.  However, we know that parents’ bitter experience is that previous promised increases in funding have not prevented their children being failed by a system in crisis.  They need to see real change on the ground and an end to the constant fight to get the support their children need.  To do this, the money needs to be accompanied with urgent reform which sees

    • existing local authority deficits written off so that this is genuinely new money
    • local authorities, the health services, schools and other parts of the system properly held to account for delivering their legal duties and meeting the needs of children with SEND
    • a truly inclusive mainstream education system with access to the external support schools need to meet children’s needs, alongside the availability of sufficient specialist provision
    • a workforce plan that makes this possible, ensuring that teachers are well trained in SEND; that early years providers, schools and colleges have the support staff they need; and that there are enough educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and other specialists to support children with SEND

Disabled children do not just rely on support from education.  It is vital that reforms to the health service end the long waits for diagnosis and treatment; and that the additional funding for social care includes families with disabled children.  We need to see an end to silo working and buck passing, so that education, health and social care genuinely work together to support disabled children and their families.