Wandsworth’s top education official has delivered a stark warning about the future of school finances in the borough, admitting that the council’s High Needs budget is now so overwhelmed that its figures are “almost irrelevant.”
At a meeting of the Wandsworth Schools Forum on Monday evening, the officer in charge of education finance told headteachers and governors that the council was now overspending by more than £10 million annually on services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)—with no realistic way to plug the gap.
“The budget is £10 million less than the outturn this year… The budget is almost irrelevant… It’s impossible without cutting schools’ funding by 20% or more.”
The Forum heard that the borough’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit now stands at £21.2 million, a rapid reversal from a surplus just five years ago. Wandsworth’s SEND funding shortfall is now among the five worst in London when adjusted for income.
And the pressures, council officers admitted, are only getting worse.
A Surge in Demand, and a System Struggling to Cope
Much of the strain is being driven by the soaring number of children being issued with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)—legal documents that guarantee personalised support for children with complex needs.
In Wandsworth, the number of EHCPs has grown by 50% in just four years, even as the total pupil population has fallen. That story is echoed across the country. But Forum members were left grappling with the deeper question: why?
Part of the answer lies in the power of the EHCP itself. Once granted, it gives families a legal right to specific services—therapies, one-to-one support, or even a specialist school placement. And for parents navigating an underfunded school system, it often feels like the only guaranteed route to help.
“It’s not hard to see why parents are applying,” one headteacher told Putney.news after the meeting. “In a mainstream school with stretched resources, there’s no spare staff. If a child needs a quiet space, or specialist support, the EHCP can be the only way to get it.”
The rise in demand is also driven by long waiting times for NHS assessments, increased awareness of conditions like autism and ADHD, and legal precedent that favours parental choice—particularly in disputes over costly placements at independent specialist schools.
There is also the concern that parents may be pursuing EHCPs not just for complex needs, but to secure access to smaller classes or preferred schools; a perception reinforced by comments on online parents’ forums.
Independent Placements Driving the Cost Explosion
While Wandsworth has expanded local provision—creating over 250 new places in special schools and resource bases in the past four years—the budget is still being overwhelmed by one cost in particular: independent SEND school placements.
These placements now cost up to £90,000 per child, per year—nearly three times the cost of a maintained special school place. Although the number of placements hasn’t dramatically increased, the price has. Council officers confirmed that three years ago, a typical placement cost around £50,000. Today, some are approaching double that—without always delivering better results.
Forum members expressed concern about profiteering in the sector and argued for closer oversight of what’s being delivered for the fees being charged.
The Schools Forum also heard widespread frustration over the council’s own financial planning systems. Several school governors said recent changes to budget formats made it harder to track and challenge spending. Headteachers said the timeline for submitting school budgets had left them unable to respond to late changes in funding information.
The council’s education lead agreed that the current process may no longer be viable and proposed shifting to a more honest budgeting model—one that begins with a deficit opening balance and sets out a realistic overspend, rather than attempting to balance a budget they know will break.
One small but potentially important initiative discussed at the meeting was a proposal for a new advisor role focused on Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA)—a growing reason for EHCP referrals and tuition costs.
The role would aim to support children before their needs escalate, reducing the number of formal plans and expensive placements, and so prevent the problem from getting bigger. “The longer a child is out of school, the more entrenched it becomes,” noted one experienced educator.
Others were less convinced about hiring someone to assess a condition that has no official diagnosis and suggested that hiring wait until after schools have had a chance to discuss the problem.
A Recovery Plan—But No Easy Fixes
A full SEND funding recovery plan is due to go before council committees in June. It will propose further investment in local provision, better coordination with NHS therapy services, and stricter oversight of private placements. A more detailed version will then come back to the Wandsworth Schools Forum in July.
Council officers asked school leaders for ideas—and acknowledged that whatever path is chosen, it will involve tough trade-offs.
But around the table, the mood was clear. The cost pressures are not going away. The demand isn’t easing. And unless the system is reformed—sooner rather than later—the budget won’t just be “irrelevant.” It will be broken beyond repair.
