Richard Gawthorpe
The government’s commitment of £3bn to improve special educational needs and disabilities provision represents a major milestone for children, families and local authorities. The ambition is clear: “to eliminate postcode disparities and ensure every child can access the right support close to home”. For those navigating the SEND system daily, this presents both opportunity and responsibility.
Pressure on SEND provision has been rising for years. Many children travel 15-20 miles or more each day to reach a suitable school. Journeys that strain families, increase costs for councils, and reduce time for social development and after-school support. With EHCP-related spending exceeding £11bn annually, transport alone consumes millions that could otherwise enhance local provision.
The new funding acknowledges these pressures and encourages councils to take a more holistic approach, considering both capital investment and transport costs when planning for future demand.
A practical route forward lies in rethinking how existing school estates are used. Rather than relying solely on new specialist schools, local authorities, working closely with academy trusts who are responsible for delivering the education within these settings, can adapt or extend mainstream schools to create inclusive spaces. This approach, supported by Department for Education guidance and recent publication of the schools white paper, offers several important benefits:
Local access: Children stay near their communities
Better value: A mainstream placement averages £24,000 per year, compared with £62,000 for a special school place
Scalability: Targeted interventions, such as sensory areas, calm rooms and flexible support bases, can be added within existing sites.
Simple modelling shows that reducing average journey distances from 15 miles to eight miles could save councils significantly annually in transport costs. These savings can help offset the cost of adapting local schools, creating a self-financing cycle of inclusive provision.
Delivering this vision requires alignment across education, estates, transport and health teams. But the direction is clear “inclusion works best when it happens close to home”. With funding now available, councils have a real opportunity to build sustainable, community-focused support.
For leaders planning next steps, Norse Group’s route map, Making SEN education local, affordable and resilient, provides a practical framework to turn ambition into action.
