(UK) Coventry: Council to receive $7.9M for SPED by 2028-2029
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A meeting of Coventry City Council's new Labour Cabinet, also attended by members of Reform's Shadow Cabinet, has unanimously approved a new plan for transforming special needs education.
The document sets out how the council and other local organisations will deliver the Government's national SEND reforms over the next three years.
The Coventry Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision Reform plan has been developed by the council in partnership with the NHS, schools, the Parent Carer Forum and other partners.
It aims to ensure more children and young people up to the age of 25 with SEND can thrive in their local mainstream school, with faster access to expert support without the need for lengthy statutory assessments. A key element is a new Experts at Hand provision, which will give mainstream schools access to professional specialists.
The city will receive around £3 million [$4M] in Government grant funding in 2026-2027 to begin delivering this, rising to an estimated £5.9 million [$7.9M] by 2028-2029.
Cllr Abdul Khan (Lab, Foleshill), Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Equalities, said: "This report represents quite a change in the position with respect to the work this authority will do for children, particularly those with special educational needs. . . .
There were "significant challenges" in the SEND system such as increases in demand, and officers said this could mean recruitment issues as all areas across the UK will be trying to hire people from the same field of professionals. . . .
Deputy Leader Lynnette Kelly (Earlsdon) said: "The special educational needs service across the country has been facing increasing demand and more and more parents have been getting private statements done for their children. It's got very expensive, it's got very complicated, and to some extent, the wealthier you are, the easier it's been to access support for your children, which is not the way any service should be organised. . . .
“The number of disabled children needing specialist support to learn and get the best start in life is rising. Yet far too many are still being failed by a broken education system.
“Properly funded support from specialist teachers has never been more urgently needed. It should be available to every disabled child, wherever they live and however complex their needs. Instead, we have a haphazard postcode lottery of provision and glaring gaps in expertise across the country. . . .
Mainstream schools, colleges and early years providers will receive £1.6bn over three years to help them provide support to Send children. . . .
The Government has also announced £1.8bn [$2.4B ]over three years to create a bank of specialists in every area such as Send teachers and speech and language therapists that schools can draw from. It will spend £200m to give all teachers training in supporting such children.
From now until 2030, some £3.7bn [$5B] capital funding will be invested to create tens of thousands of new specialist places. . . .
