NEWS

SEND deficit deal demands £50m budget cuts, £13m asset sales and use of £20m financial reserves

Department for Education to contribute £95 million over nine years, but terms of deal require Devon County Council to break even on SEND within two years despite five years of multi-million pound overspends.

Leigh Curtis

A Devon County Council agreement with the Department for Education which is intended to reduce its Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) spending deficit commits the council to £50 million of budget cuts, the sale of £13 million of publicly-owned assets and the use of £20 million of its financial reserves.

In return the Department for Education will contribute a total of £95 million over nine years to 2031-32, the length of time the deal will be in place.

The terms of the deal, which is being presented by the government as a “safety valve”, require the county council to break even on SEND spending within the next two years despite its persistent overspends.

These have produced a cumulative SEND spending deficit which currently stands at £163 million and is expected to exceed £200 million in less than two years.

The county council admits that the “transformation plans and proposals” are “high risk”. It is not clear what will happen if it fails to hold its gross SEND deficit, the cumulative overspend before the “safety valve” money comes into play, at £207 million every year from 2025-26 onwards.

Devon County Council SEND deficit 2019-20 to 2031-32 bar chart Devon County Council cumulative SEND deficit 2019-20 to 2031-32 at March 2024. Year shown is financial year end e.g. 2020 = 2019-20. 2024-25 onwards are from Devon County Council projections.

Government funding for SEND provision comes from the High Needs Block element of the Dedicated Schools Grant, which pays for education services provided by the county council.

The Children and Families Act 2014 increased the age range of children and young people with SEND that councils had to support but the government did not increase High Needs Block funding to cover the additional costs the Act created.

In 2024-25 Devon County Council will receive £116.9 million High Needs Block funding but says this will leave it with £37 million less than it will need to deliver SEND provision next year.

It has been in a similar position for five years straight.

In 2019-20 it spent £20 million more than the government SEND funding it received. In 2020-21 this rose to £29 million, then £37.5 million in 2021-22 and nearly £39 million in 2022-23. It is expected to have fallen slightly to £37 million by the end of the current financial year.

Devon County Council was among the 90% of upper-tier authorities which overspent on SEND in 2019-20, by which time the national High Needs Block shortfall was already £643 million.

Devon County Council SEND spending 2019-20 to 2024-25 bar chart Devon County Council SEND spending 2019-20 to 2024-25 at December 2023. Year shown is financial year end e.g. 2020 = 2019-20. 2023-24 onwards are from Devon County Council projections.

After initially compelling councils to finance their shortfalls by using funding intended for other purposes, the government allowed local authorities to ring-fence their SEND deficits, separating them from the rest of their budgets.

When deficits did not fall, the Department for Education created its “safety valve” programme, setting financial and performance targets for individual councils in return for providing additional funding.

Devon County Council’s agreement with the Department for Education requires that it makes progress in improving its SEND services provision following poor reports from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission over several years, beginning in December 2018.

Among other failings, they said the county council had been too slow to implement the SEND reforms introduced by Children and Families Act four years earlier.

Children with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents staged protests at County Hall in February last year and again last month, saying Devon SEND services provision are still not fit for purpose.

Special educational needs and disabilities protesters at County Hall in February 2023 Special educational needs and disabilities protesters at County Hall in February last year

Devon County Council will now have to update the Department of Education every three months against specific goals with aims that include improving early intervention practices to ensure it “meets the needs of children and young people with SEND across Devon”.

It says the Devon SEND transformation programme, which it set up in 2020, is key to delivery of the Department for Education deal.

It plans to increase SEND capacity in its school system, spending £18 million on extra special school places and £6 million on “resource bases” which provide support in mainstream schools.

It has also submitted a bid for £8.7 million of additional government funding, to which the council would add £1.5 million, to increase SEND capacity in further education settings.

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

The county council initially agreed not to publish its agreement with the Department for Education, excluding press and public from a cabinet meeting on 13 March to approve it in private.

Its children’s services scrutiny committee was then allowed to discuss the deal at its meeting on Monday, after the fact.

County council chief executive Donna Manson admitted that SEND spending had been allowed to escalate and said that the agreement was “about getting spending under control and put funding into resolving the deficit”, adding: “We are spending more money every day than we should be”.

Scrutiny committee councillors asked for a more detailed explanation of how the agreement would work in practice but Lois Samuel, Cabinet member for Children’s SEND Improvement Services, said that updates would be provided at future committee meetings.

Devon County Council joins 37 other local authorities that have so far agreed “safety valve” deals with the government.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
Dartmoor wildfire on 5 May 2025, photo by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

Dartmoor National Park warns of continued high fire risk after wildfire destroys 1,230 acres of moorland

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service took nearly 24 hours to extinguish bank holiday weekend blaze that followed warning of uncontrolled moorland fire risk.

Former Firezza in Sidwell Street to become adult gaming centre

24 hour year-round Sidwell Street “adult gaming centre” allowed at appeal

Planning inspector finds no evidence that “increase in crime and disorder” or “serious detrimental impacts on the health of local residents” would result from change of use from restaurant and takeaway unit.

Haven Banks development illustrative aerial view

Twelve months temporary church use extension sought for Haven Banks Liveable Exeter development site units

Second year of “worship and ancillary uses” for retail park units to follow December 2023 planning approval for ultra-high density build-to-rent scheme for which neither planning permission nor consent notice yet published.

Exeter College in Hele Road

Petroc and Exeter College governors agree “merger in principle”

Further and higher education colleges with Barnstaple, Tiverton and several Exeter sites will now consider consequences of creating what would be largest college group in South West with public consultation due on plans before November decision.

Corner of Fore Street and West Street with St Mary Steps church in the background

Planning inspector upholds decision to refuse fifth additional storey in build-to-rent scheme above Crankhouse Coffee

Twelve year-old permission to add one full and one stepped-back storey to West Street elevation and remove all commercial space nevertheless remains extant.

2025 Devon County Council elections party vote share change by district

Lib Dems take command at County Hall despite Reform UK surge as Conservatives lose 33 seats and Labour is wiped out

2025 Devon County Council elections leave balance of power in Green Party hands as local government reorganisation takes centre stage on regional political agenda.

On Our Radar
Tabatha Andrews sculpture

SATURDAY 26 APRIL TO SATURDAY 21 JUNE 2025

The Slightest Gesture

Sculptor and installation artist Tabatha Andrews presents a new immersive exhibition.

EXETER PHOENIX

Exeter Pride in Exeter High Street

SATURDAY 10 MAY 2025

Exeter Pride 2025

Exeter Pride returns for a celebration of LGBTQ+ diversity with a parade, marketplace, music, cabaret and more.

NORTHERNHAY GARDENS

Detail from Panorama of Prague from the Schönborn Garden

SATURDAY 10 MAY 2025

Czech Classics

Isca Ensemble and chorus perform a programme by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.

EXETER CATHEDRAL

Fore Street Flea

SUNDAY 18 MAY 2025

Fore Street Flea 2025

Market with stalls selling vintage items, handmade craft, food and drink plus live music from local artists returns for 2025 season.

FORE STREET

Pint of Science graphic

MONDAY 19 TO WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 2025

Pint of Science 2025

Three days of talks, demonstrations and live experiments by research scientists in city centre pubs.

EXETER CITY CENTRE

Augustine Fogwoode in The Mushroom Show

MONDAY 26 MAY 2025

The Mushroom Show

Scratchworks Theatre Company combines interactive games, comedy and music to explore the fascinating world of fungi.

EMMANUEL HALL