The government has paid almost £5.8 billion clearing the majority of council special educational needs spending deficits, according to official figures published today.
But there are forecasts that within two years council debts could have risen beyond this level, as demand for special educational needs and disabilities provision continues to outstrip funding.
Local authorities that have had their SEND reform plans approved by the Department for Education have received a high-needs stability grant, which will cover the cost of 90 per cent of deficits accrued up to the end of 2025-26.
Payments for council SEND deficits
Data shows that payments totalling £5.79 billion have been made to 129 councils.
This means these authorities will still have 10 per cent of their existing deficits - totalling more than £600 million - to manage themselves.
The DfE announced earlier this year that it would make payments to councils that have their local SEND reform plans signed off by the government. These plans set out how councils are planning to implement the government’s planned SEND reforms.
The government plans to move to a new SEND system from 2029, with reformed education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and a new three-tier system of support for pupils with SEND.
Councils are also being expected to recruit “experts at hand” to support schools in their area with SEND pupils and to commission inclusion bases in mainstream schools.
Today the government has published details of whether council SEND reform plans have been approved and how much money councils have been given to bring down their deficits through the .
Eight councils have been given grant payments of more than £150 million each.
The largest single payment has been made to Hampshire (£311,207,558), followed by Surrey (£205,202,993) and Devon (£191,252,023).
SEND plans not yet approved
Twelve councils have not yet had their SEND plans approved. These are:
- Bradford
- Cambridgeshire
- Cumberland
- Lewisham
- Liverpool
- Milton Keynes
- Newham
- Redbridge
- Slough
- Southend-on-Sea
- Thurrock
- West Berkshire
There are 11 councils where plans have been approved but no payments made. It is understood that payments have not been made in these cases because the councils did not have high-needs deficits. These councils are:
- Barnet
- Birmingham
- Camden
- Coventry
- Islington
- Lambeth
- Luton
- Nottingham
- Portsmouth
- Westminster
- York
The DfE has faced warnings that despite its bailout this year, councils will still face rising deficits over the next two years.
Financial pressures ‘will continue’
An Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast report, published yesterday alongside the Budget, says that council SEND deficits will be £4.2 billion in 2026-27 and £5.7 billion in 2027-28 - roughly the amount the government has just announced it has spent on clearing 90 per cent of deficits accrued up to the end of 2025-26 across 129 councils.
Earlier this month the County Councils Network called for a “cast iron” commitment from the new government to wipe out the deficits that continue to accumulate rapidly by March 2028.
The OBR report notes that “while the government has committed to reimburse local authorities for 90 per cent of the deficits they accumulated on SEND spending through to the end of 2025-26, [it] has made no commitment in relation to deficits accumulated after that point”.
It also states: “Local authorities will continue to face financial pressures from SEND-related spending until it is fully funded by central government from 2028-29, with local authorities now expecting significantly higher deficits up to 2027-28 compared to their own previous estimates. There is uncertainty around the impact that the recent reforms in February 2026 will have on costs and on the numbers of children that receive support.”
Today Vlog revealed that the f40 group of councils has called on the government to produce a long-term funding plan for SEND.
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