According to Amerdeep Somal, young people and their families need help, and social workers are overwhelmed.
The system set up to serve children in England with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) is in “utter disarray” and needs to be completely overhauled, according to the local government ombudsman (LGO).
In an exclusive interview with the media, Amerdeep Somal, who oversees complaints against council services such as Send, stated: “The system is simply not working for children, families or local authorities.
“The money available is not sufficient to provide the services that children are entitled to. It means young people, and their families, don’t get the help they need and lose vital weeks, months and years of education and development as a result.”
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She claimed that social workers are sometimes overwhelmed, with caseloads of up to 250 children. There aren’t enough educational psychologists, and many areas lack affordable and suitable support. She stated, “No one wins in the current system.”
Somal’s intervention comes only days after councils warned of a £5 billion debt crisis created by out-of-control spending on Send services, which threatens to bankrupt many of England’s local authorities.
It also follows the publication of the annual evaluation of local government complaints, which revealed that concerns regarding special educational needs provision now dominate LGO casework.
Education concerns accounted for more than a quarter (26%) of all complaints received by the LGO in 2023-2024, far outweighing complaints regarding housing (16%), adult care (14%), and highways (12%). There were fewer than 3,000 housing complaints, compared to over 4,600 about schooling.
They also accounted for 42% of all cases upheld by the LGO. Families that file complaints against Send have a remarkably high success rate. Somal’s team discovered the problem in 92% of the education cases reviewed, and the number is growing rapidly.
Somal is keenly interested in Send issues, having served as a tribunal judge in cases. “That gave me a real insight into the particular challenges that parents, children, schools, and local authorities face in this space.”
After six months in her new position, she is very concerned not only about the increasing number of complaints but also about councils’ long delays in adopting the LGO’s recommendations after a complaint has been investigated. She is, however, sympathetic to councils that lack the necessary resources.
“We know, from the thousands of investigations we carry out each year, the staggering rate at which they are increasing and the rapidly rising proportion we uphold, that the Send system is in utter disarray.
“We uphold nine out of 10 investigations, and behind each one is a child or young person and their family who have been let down by a system that should be supporting them to achieve their fullest potential.
“Where we find fault with a local authority, we will ask them to improve their services, processes or staff training. But we know these improvements will only chip away at the edges of the issue, because the whole system that local authorities operate in needs overhauling.”
According to Somal, the crisis has been in the making for ten years. “Both councils and the then government should have anticipated the issues and planned for the future when the Children and Families Act 2014 was brought in, and demand for education, health, and care plans [for children with the greatest Send needs] started to increase.
“The staff needed for councils to fulfil their duties, including highly specialist roles like educational psychologists, can not be trained overnight, and so this situation will not be resolved without significant reform on a national scale.”
An LGO investigation in a survey revealed a backlog of 1,000 EHCP needs assessments, with one child waiting nine months for a plan to be issued. In Suffolk, a student was out of school for 18 months due to similar delays, while in Northamptonshire, one adolescent lost two years of education because the council neglected to employ a learning-support assistant.
Somal urged the government to comprehensively evaluate the system and allocate adequate resources. “There needs to be a strong and comprehensive grip on this issue, from reviewing the 2014 legislation to ensuring the resources are in place and retained to support children how and when they need it.
“Special educational needs provision is an existential threat for the local authorities that provide children’s services and, most importantly, affects the lives of thousands of children having long-term effects on their aspirations and contributions to society.”
Catherine McKinnell, Minister for School Standards, stated, “We are committed to improving inclusivity, expertise, and capacity within mainstream schools and making sure special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
“There is no ‘magic wand’ to fix these deep-rooted issues immediately, but we have already started and will act as quickly as possible to ensure that every child gets the best start in life.”
