Barnsley’s £22m “safety valve” plan to address funding black hole for youngsters with special educational needs

The council, along with many other local authorities across the UK, faces a funding deficit due to the growth in demand for special educational needs (SEN) provision exceeding the government funding provided over the last eight years.

The DofE will pay the council £22.9 million over five years to 2026/27, which will be provided in instalments.

Councillor Trevor Cave, cabinet spokesperson for children’s services at BMBC said: “In order to achieve our ambitions set out in Barnsley’s SEND Strategy it is important that we have sufficient funding from the government to achieve this.

“The 2014 SEND reforms increased the age range eligibility up to 25 years old, and across the country, councils have seen large deficits build up as the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) increased but without the increase in funding to match this.

“The high needs funding deficit has been a significant financial challenge for us. We welcome this opportunity to work with DfE on the Safety Valve programme to reduce the impact on the council and allow us to move to a more sustainable position.

“The council has been through a rigorous process over a number of months in order to be accepted onto the programme and we are pleased that this announcement demonstrates confidence in our plans and our strategy to identify and meet needs earlier.”