(UK) Councils on verge of going bust due to explosion in ASD/ADHD diagnosis

Nov 27, 2025, Daily Mail: Fears of Labour SEND 'catastrophe' for schools: Per-pupil funding 'could crash by £400' [$530] after Chancellor announced plan to prop up councils struggling with explosion in autism and ADHD diagnosis

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15331105/amp/Labour-SEND-schools-pupil-funding-Chancellor-councils-autism-ADHD-diagnosis.html

Schools have voiced alarm at the prospect of a 4.9 per cent drop in funding after the government agreed to pick up the tab for councils' spiralling SEND costs.

The Budget revealed that from 2028-29 councils will no longer have to run deficits to pay for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Instead 'future funding implications' will be managed by central government, with plans promised later to deal with the huge debts already run up.

The move followed warnings that dozens of local authorities are on the verge of going bust following an explosion in autism and ADHD diagnosis.  

However, in an analysis report, the OBR said the Government 'has not set out' how this would be paid for, at a starting cost of £6.3billion per year.

The watchdog warned that if the Department for Education - run by Bridget Phillipson - were made to absorb the cost, it could eat into the other money schools get.

The OBR said: 'If it were fully funded within the DfE's £69 billion [$8.3B]... core schools budget in 2028-29, this would imply a 4.9 per cent real fall in mainstream school spending per pupil rather than the 0.5 per cent real increase planned by Government.'

A 4.9 per cent reduction would be roughly equivalent to £400 [$530] a year. 

The DfE said the claim was 'incorrect', and that the extra money would be found from across government, rather than from the schools budget.

Union leaders warned that dipping into the schools budget would spell disaster.