Thirty-one local authorities have been selected by ministers to pilot key SEND reforms through a £70 million “change programme”.
The Department for Education has also confirmed seven new special free schools, which will open in areas with SEND budget black holes, bringing the total number of new special free schools nationwide up to 41 amid a critical shortage of special school places.
The seven extra schools – totalling over 1,000 places – have been approved through the “safety valve” route, a £1 billion programme where councils make sweeping changes in exchange for government bailouts to plug high needs deficits.
Selected local authorities will create local area inclusion plans and help inform the development of new national standards, key planks of the government’s SEND reform agenda.
