Responding to the risk register included in the DfE's latest annual report and accounts, Andy Smith, ADCS President, said:
“It is unsurprising that the financial sustainability of the SEND and AP system and failure of the care placement market are amongst the biggest risks managed by the Department, ADCS members have been raising these significant issues for some time.
"The unintended consequences of implementation of the 2014 SEND reforms have led to a shift away from mainstream education and an unsustainable demand for EHCPs, leading to significant high-needs funding deficits expected to reach £5 billion over the next two years. While the system is unaffordable, it is also not delivering the outcomes we wish to see for our children and young people. The scope of the SEND and AP improvement plan is not currently sufficiently ambitious to rebalance the system, so we look forward to working with the new government to achieve these aims and improve the experiences, and outcomes, of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities.
"The Competition and Markets Authority, Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Department for Education have all acknowledged the dysfunctional placements market. The children we care for deserve to live in homes that meet their needs and are as close to the people and places they know as possible. However, finding the right home is increasingly difficult due to the significant shortfall in suitable homes in the right locations. Children's services have long operated in a mixed economy with private, voluntary and community providers involved in the delivery of services locally. However, profiteering by some large private providers and growing private equity involvement is a concern as is the considerable levels of borrowing and debts that some private companies are holding. Should any of these providers fail, no single local authority could step in, and it would be children who suffer the greatest consequences.
"We urgently need the government to develop a comprehensive national placements strategy and address profiteering so that the right homes are available when and where they're needed and at a cost that is affordable to the public purse.”
ENDS