The warning has been repeated this week after ministers acted to stave-off the financial cliff-edge faced by local authorites due to SEND-related funding deficits which the Local Government Association has forecast will hit £5bn next year.
School leaders have welcomed the government action but warned that the local authority SEND deficits “cannot be wished away and are simply not sustainable for councils” in the long-term.
There has been significant pressure on the government to write-off the SEND deficits, but instead they are to be deferred once again until the end of 2027/28.
This has been done via an extension to the “statutory over-ride” which had been due to end in March 2026. It will now end in March 2028.
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