Financial reports outlining the progress Kent County Council (KCC) is making towards reducing its overspend on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support and services for children and young people have been published.
Kent, like many other councils, has struggled to meet the rising demand for SEND support and services within the budget given by the Government. Including overspends from previous years, the total overspend had built up to £97 million by 2021-22.
The huge demand for SEND services means more money is spent in Kent on SEND than the England and South East averages, and more than the 10 nearest similar councils.
To help reduce this overspend and tackle the financial challenges in providing services and support for children and young people with SEND, KCC entered into a financial agreement, known as the Safety Valve, with the Department for Education (DfE).
The agreement started in the financial year 2022-23 and is set to run for five years until 2027/28. It will see a £140 million contribution from the DfE, boosted by a further £82 million from KCC’s budget over the next five years. As part of the agreement, KCC has committed to making changes in five areas, including working with mainstream schools to support children and young people with SEND, making sure there are enough special school places for children with severe and complex needs locally where possible, reviewing the Education, Health and Care Plan system, and supporting young people with preparing for adulthood.
KCC must submit monitoring reports three times a year to the DfE, and those already submitted are published on KCC’s website. The DfE assesses KCC’s progress as outlined in each report and, if they are happy with it, they release a payment from the £140 million allocated. So far, KCC has been on track to reduce the overspend and has received every payment expected. This financial year (2024-25) a £10 million overspend has built up due to rising costs and demand, which amounts to 5% of the total budget for SEND.
Rory Love, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “Kent’s Safety Valve Agreement has not only protected other important public services from £140 million-worth of cuts, it has also prevented a Council Tax rise of 25% towards paying off the overspend. This would have been the harsh reality if we hadn’t entered into the Agreement.
"We spend hundreds of millions of pounds each year on SEND support and services in Kent. Publishing our monitoring reports to the DfE and providing more information about SEND spending demonstrates our commitment to transparency, tackling the overspend, and ensuring efficient use of resources."
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