Briefings and responses

In our Child-centred recovery report, we highlight how effective, high quality early years provision makes a difference to young children, helping to break the cycle of disadvantage, improving social mobility and offering them a good start in life. Early years providers have continued to support children throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

Councils are concerned about additional vulnerabilities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes more families living in poverty; mental health issues amongst both children and parents; increasing domestic abuse; and increasing substance misuse issues.

We remain concerned that the introduction of the National Funding Formula, combined with changes to High Needs Funding, will exacerbate existing shortfalls in funding to support children and young people with SEND. We want to see funding for High Needs increased to meet sharply increasing demand for SEND support.

This stocktake is a positive opportunity to review current services and make sure that the system is working as well as possible, and in particular we appreciate the constructive dialogue that the DfE has already instigated with the sector.

LGA commissioned research found that councils are facing a high needs funding shortfall of £667 million in the 2019-20 financial year and this funding gap could rise to £1.6 billion by 2021.

We remain concerned that the introduction of the National Funding Formula, combined with changes to High Needs Funding, will exacerbate existing shortfalls in funding to support children and young people with SEND.

Children should be supported to get the best, not just to get by. It is however increasingly challenging to turn this ambition into a reality when the financial pressures are forcing an increasing number of councils to make difficult decisions about the allocation of limited resources.

Children should be supported to get the best, not just left to get by. Councils can be empowered to support them if the local authority role goes beyond the provision of statutory child protection services alone.

The majority of parents who home educate their children do a good job and work well with their local council to make sure that a good education is being provided. However, we are concerned that not all children are registered as home schooled, particularly where they have never joined the mainstream education system or they have moved to a new area. 

All children deserve access to the best possible education. Data shows that council-maintained schools receive better Ofsted ratings, and improve more quickly, than academy schools.