Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated from the high needs budget to young people aged 16-25 years when compared with the proportion of Education Health and Care Plans that are held by people in that age bracket.

When the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) was created in 2013/14, it incorporated funding to reflect the costs of support to young people up to age 25. The expected additional cost to local authorities was directly taken into account by:

• moving all funds previously allocated to supporting young people aged 16-25 with high needs through the previous funding system, into the high needs block of the DSG and;
• increasing the high needs block further to reflect the likely increase in numbers of young people requiring high needs funding.

An additional £272 million was allocated to the DSG in the financial year 2013/14, and £390 million in the financial year 2014/15. The difference between the two years lies in the fact that some of the changes relating to funding provision for young people aged over 16 years old with high needs started in August 2013, rather than at the start of the financial year in April 2013.

These increases in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 financial years were consolidated into the funding baseline. This informed the 2015 spending review settlement reached between the department and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Local authorities’ increased spending, including on 16-25-year-olds, was also considered in subsequent decisions on the appropriate level of high needs funding through the DSG, and for informing overall Spending Review settlements.

As a result of the Autumn 2021 Spending Review, the core schools budget will have increased by more than £7 billion by the financial year 2024/25, compared to 2021/22. High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing in the next financial year 2022/23 by £1 billion to over £9.1 billion. This unprecedented increase in high needs funding of 13% in the financial year 2022/23, compared to 2021/22, comes in addition to the £1.5 billion increase over the last two years. It will continue to support local authorities and schools with the increasing costs they are facing.

In 2017, the department produced guidance for local authorities about education, health and care (EHC) plans for 19 to 25-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This non-statutory guidance is primarily for local authorities. It aims to support them in making fair and consistent decisions about when they should maintain an EHC plan beyond the age of 19 or issue an EHC plan to a young person aged 19 or over. The guidance facilitates the decisions in remaining in line with local authorities’ duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, and as described in the SEND code of practice.