Wokingham Faces £30m SEND Funding Crisis

Wokingham Borough Council is under pressure over the rising cost of support for children with special educational needs, even after the Government agreed to wipe £46m off its bill.

The shortfall sits in the council27s Dedicated Schools Grant, which funds schools and support for children and young people with additional needs. Around £46m of the accumulated deficit will be written off at the end of November after Government approval of Wokingham27s SEND Reform Plan, but another £24m overspend is forecast this year.

Councillor Prue Bray told a full council meeting that could mean the deficit is back at around £30m by next March. She said: "£46m will be written off our Dedicated Schools Grant deficit at the end of November.

"That is roughly 90 per cent of the deficit as it stood at the end of March. It will leave us with an accumulated deficit of around £6m.

"However, despite our best efforts, our report is predicting a £24m overspend by the end of the year."

She added: "By the end of next March, the deficit will be back at £30m."

Council papers say numbers of children being placed in independent, non-maintained and out-of-borough special schools are rising, with transport costs and a shortage of local specialist places adding to the pressure.

Wokingham has drawn up a SEND Reform Plan to improve services and make the system more financially sustainable, but Cllr Bray warned of continued uncertainty over how the Government will handle SEND deficits.

She said: "We still do not know what action the Government will take next year." Cllr Bray added the council had been told the Government would take "appropriate action", but "We have no indication of what that means."

She told councillors: "The situation is slightly better but, in common with most councils, we are still looking at a very considerable problem."

Katie French, Local Democracy Reporter