More than a dozen councils 'will go insolvent overnight' without urgent Send reform

The current Send system has been described by politicians in Yorkshire as “outdated and doesn’t represent the current demands and needs of children and their families”.

The deficits are currently being kept off councils’ budgets due to an accountancy method called “statutory override”, however this is due to expire in March 2026.

According to a survey from CCN, if this happens half of its members - 18 county and unitary councils - would go insolvent overnight. It said a further six would follow in 2027, bringing the total going bankrupt to 24 councils.

The CCN’s Coun Kate Foale said: “The clock is ticking to March 2026 and we are now just twelve months away from what would be a financial catastrophe for local councils if these unmanageable Send deficits are placed onto local authority’ budget books.”

While the survey was carried out anonymously, both North Yorkshire Council and the East Riding have told the Yorkshire Post that the rise in Send demand is one of their biggest outlays.

North Yorkshire Council leader Coun Carl Les revealed that transporting one child with complex needs to school was costing £1.2 million a year.

“The real pressure we’re getting at the moment is on Send, and on the transport of pupils with Send,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“I don’t want to single out one individual occurrence, but we do have one child that we’re having to look after and that child is costing £1.2 million a year.

“That is the sort of scale of cost that we can be facing for an individual child, and there are more of those children coming into the system.”

While in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the council receives the lowest amount of per pupil Send funding in the country.

Coun Victoria Aitken, cabinet member for children, families and education said: “The way Send funding is calculated is outdated and doesn’t represent the current demands and needs of children and their families.”

If the East Riding of Yorkshire received the average national funding per pupil, the council would have £17.4 million extra each year for Send provision.

“The effect of lower funding in children’s services contributes significantly to the wider council budget, and if we received appropriate funding for high needs, our overall council position would be significantly more manageable,” Coun Aitken added.

Yet the Government still has not said whether it will extend the statutory override, with the Department for Education merely saying that there will be an announcement about Send reforms later this year.

A spokesperson said: “The evidence is clear that the Send system has been on its knees for years – with too many children not having their needs met and parents forced to fight for support.

“It will take time, but through our Plan for Change, this government is determined to spread opportunity, restore the confidence of families up and down the country and deliver the improvement they are crying out for.”