CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Demand led, resource constrained: SEND is broken

Outraged at the Government's call for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities financial recovery plans, Ian Thomas explains why it is the funding that is flawed, not the execution.

‘SEND it again', The MJ front-page headline that sent me to distraction. Taking to Twitter whilst shaking my head I was soon joined by a major brain in this space, Mark Rogers, States of Jersey director general, former chief executive and director of children's services, who was suitably outraged and typically outspoken.

The article centred on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) financial recovery plans, 32 local authorities have had to submit to the Department for Education (DfE) and the department's response. The principle is sound, in that we are spending public money and should be held to account but set against the context of us all operating in a totally broken system, the central government diktat is futile, at best.       

Ian Thomas

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