(UK) Somerset: Council faces $133M SPED debt; cost 'increasing massively,' numbers 'rising faster than ever before'
- The end of childhood
- Oct 29
- 3 min read
Oct 26, 2025, Somerset Live: Somerset Council slams 'massively disappointing' delays to government SEND reforms
SW England
The council said the delay would hurt Somerset families who were 'waiting ever longer for the support their children desperately need'
Somerset Council has slammed the "massively disappointing" delays to the government's planned reforms of special needs education.
The Labour government had promised to bring forward the Schools White Paper by the autumn, outlining changes to the funding of education – including provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Department for Education (DfE) announced on Wednesday (October 22) that this white paper (which sets out the government's direction of travel before a bill enters the House of Commons) will not see the light of day until some time in 2026, in order to "allow for further co-design and testing of the proposals".
Council leader Bill Revans said the delay would hurt Somerset families who were "waiting ever longer for the support their children desperately need", and urged the government to speed up the process.
This delay comes shortly after a protest outside County Hall in Taunton by the recently-formed Somerset SEND Army (attended by Mr Revans and several other councillors), with parents calling on the council and the government to take their children's welfare seriously and prevent their future from "being decided by spreadsheets".
Speaking on Thursday (October 23), Mr Revans – a former teacher – said: "Time is of the essence – so this delay is massively disappointing.
"The present SEND system is in crisis. The number of young people needing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is rising faster than ever before.
"The cost of that support is increasing massively. Councils are on course to amass £6bn [$8B] in deficits by March next year.
"Families are waiting ever longer for the support their children desperately need.
"We need comprehensive changes that will make the system sustainable and address the dramatic rise in costs we have seen over the last decade.
"Anything other than root and branch reform will place councils in a vicious cycle over overspending and worsening services for families."
Demand for SEND education resources has vastly exceeded on government funding for years, with Somerset's own dedicated school grant (DSG) deficit now predicted to exceed £100m [$133M] by the end of the financial year.
The council recently agreed a DSG deficit reduction plan, with the DfE extending the statutory override for two more years – allowing the council to keep the deficit off its official books until March 2028.
Without such an override – or reform which comes into effect before this date – the council would have little choice but to declare effective bankruptcy, being unable to balance its books.
Councillor Heather Shearer, portfolio holder for children, families and education – who also attended the protest on October 13 – said: "This is a national crisis, and we stand with the parents of SEND children and families in Somerset who believe they are unheard and misrepresented in Westminster.
"We have identified a raft of innovations and improvements, but children are coming to us in a state of crisis.
"What's really needed is urgent and effective reform of the SEND legislation that properly addresses the increasing complexity of need that children and families are experiencing now."
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