(UK) Surrey: $225M high needs debt by 2027; govt to pay off 90%
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Feb 12, 2026, Surrey Live: Special education debt write off 'finally recognises' huge pressures faced by Surrey councils
The Government is ‘finally recognising the heavy pressure placed on local budgets to support children’ after agreeing to wipe out 90 per cent of the debt councils has accrued in Special Education Need and Disabilities spending.
Surrey has 46,000 children with Additional Needs and Disabilities (AND) with 16,870 children and young people with a statutory Education Health and Care (EHC) plan.
This is more than double the number in 2018 and puts it at the third highest in the country.
Councils must, by law, have to identify and support children with special educational needs but the surge in numbers has seen spending far outstrip what they receive from Government.
Surrey County Council has spent millions since 2018 as part of its recovery plan for the service - which it has said is yielding results, but has pressed for changes to the wider system, additional funding and reform.
MP Greg Stafford also told the commons that the High Needs Block deficit in Surrey was forecast to run to £165m [$225M] by 2027.
It leaves councils having to find huge sums every year - with historically poor support from the Government. The news that £5billion [$6.8B] will be spent to eliminate almost all historic debt in Englands, they hope, signals a major change in direction.
Helyn Clack, Surrey County Councl’s deputy cabinet member for children, families and lifelong learning said: “Surrey County Council welcomes the announcement on SEND deficits. It shows that central government finally recognises the heavy pressure placed on local budgets to support children with special educational needs, costs that should have been fully funded through the Government's Dedicated Schools Grant.
“We are mindful that this SEND deficit funding covers overspends we have already incurred. We now await more detail on the expected ongoing costs of the SEND system and the long‑promised reforms needed to make it sustainable in the future. In the meantime, we are reviewing the details of the announcement to understand what it means for the Council.”
The announcement follows Local Government Association (LGA) warnings that as many as eight in 10 English councils would be facing bankruptcy if forced to pay back their SEND deficits in full.
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