(UK) Somerset schools "manage significantly MORE children with complex needs"

Dec 30, 2018, Somerset Mercury: Review of top-up funding for pupils with special needs https://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/education/consultation-on-funding-for-special-educational-needs-in-north-somerset-1-5832400 Mainstream schools manage significantly more children with complex needs since the top-up funding (TUF) arrangements were set up in 2013. North Somerset Council is conducting a review to ensure TUF supports children and young people with high-level needs and is used in addition to delegated schools funding. There are 3,783 pupils with special educational needs in North Somerset, with 493 of them receiving top-up funding in mainstream schools. Sheila Smith, director of people and communities at the council, said: “Like every other council in the country our spending on children with SEND is increasing and the available funding does not match the demand. …