(England) Dramatic increases in SPED spending by local councils
- The end of childhood
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Feb 9, 2026, tes Magazine: Cash-strapped councils’ spending on private special schools soars
Local authorities with the biggest SEND deficits see their spending on places in independent special schools rise by up to 58 per cent, Tes analysis shows
Cash-strapped councils are urging the government to intervene over spending on independent special schools as new analysis shows that some local authorities are set to spend up to 58 per cent more on private places this year.
Local authorities are calling for the government to cap the profits and charges being made by private special schools and to ensure that more state special school places are available, amid concerns about rising spending.
Figures from 16 local authorities that entered into “Safety Valve” agreements with the government reveal that they are set to spend £29 million [$40M] more this year on commissioning spaces at private special schools, Tes analysis shows.
This is a 13 per cent increase across one financial year for the councils in question.
Councils with the largest high-needs spending deficits have been entered into Safety Valve agreements, which involve them receiving initial government funding while introducing changes aimed at bringing their spending on special educational needs and disabilities provision into balance.
Figures obtained from 16 local authorities show that spending on independent special schools is set to increase this year in 14 of them.
Council and education leaders are now urging the government to take action to bring down spending on independent special schools. The calls come as ministers are expected to announce plans for SEND reform in a new Schools White Paper “within weeks”.
Spending on private special schools
Local authorities are required to secure the special educational provision specified in an education, health and care plan (EHCP) for a student.
When places in state-funded mainstream, special or alternative provision schools are unavailable or unsuitable, local authorities are often left with independent special schools as the only choice.
Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The big issue here is the lack of suitable special school places. . . .
Tes contacted 38 councils that had entered into Safety Valve agreements for information about their spending on independent special schools.
Collectively, the 16 councils that provided figures spent £220 million [$300M] in 2024-25 and are forecast to spend £249 million [$340M] in 2025-26.
In one area spending is set to increase by more than 50 per cent. Figures from Slough show spending rising from £2.4 million [$3.3M] to £3.8 million [$5M] this year - an increase of 58 per cent. It is one of five areas where spending is set to increase by more than a fifth this year.
Norfolk County Council is set to increase its spending by £6 million [$8M], from £54.7 million [$75M] to £61.4 million [$84M] - a 12.3 per cent rise.
A spokesperson for the council told Tes: “The national funding model was built around the lower costs of maintained and academy special schools and is wholly inadequate for the much higher fees in the independent sector.”
Dorset County Council is forecast to spend £3 million [$4M] more on private special school places than last year. . . .
The London Borough of Bexley, with its spending set to increase by £1 million [$1.4M], also called for the government to intervene.
“We hope that the long-awaited, promised SEND reforms will go some way to addressing this position, including the capping of any profits or charges, and the wider availability of specialist school places,” a spokesperson said.
North Somerset Council, forecast to spend an additional £1.8 million [$2.5M] on independent special school places this year, said that private schools should charge at the same rate that local authority special schools are funded at.
“Now that the government has added VAT to independent schools, it would also help if there were a national cap on what councils have to pay per place,” it said.
Local authorities have also reported an increase in the number of places they are commissioning at independent special schools. Eleven of 15 councils that provided data are commissioning more places in 2025-26 than they did in 2022-23.
Cambridgeshire County Council is forecast to commission 576 places in independent special schools in 2025-26, compared with 349 in 2022-23.
While a spokesperson for the council said that it welcomed a “mixed economy of provision”, they told Tes that planned increases to the council’s own provision “may lead to a reduction in demand for placements in independent special schools in the future”. . . .
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