£4.9m SEND Investment Won’t Fix System, Say Opposition Councillors

Published on: 25 Jul, 2025
Updated on: 29 Jul, 2025

By Emily Dalton

local democracy reporter

A £4.9 million overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in Surrey has been approved. But opposition members have claimed the investment won’t fix the system’s deep-rooted problems.

The funding was signed off by ruling cabinet members for Surrey County Council at a meeting on July 22, as part of the council’s on-going budget planning for next year (2026/27).

But extra resources and staff “will not by themselves make the significant change the service needs”, according to opposing councillors.

Changes to the SEND service have been recommended as a result of the end-to-end review of the statutory service, council documents state.

These include hiring 30 new permanent case officers, forming a new team dedicated to issuing Education, Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and reducing case load from over 200 to 150 per officer.

Council documents detail there would also be two new operational groups formed – one focused on staffing, training and system development, while another group will focus solely on tribunals, mediations, dispute resolution, complaints and quality assurance.

Cllr Fiona Davidson

But Cllr Fiona Davidson (Guildford South East), the committee chair who overlooks and scrutinises SEND services, flagged serious concerns to cabinet members.

She said the committee “has already found that employing extra staff does not by itself result in the outcomes we so desperately need”.

The Guildford Residents and Villages member slammed the proposal and argued the funding does not describe specific, measurable outcomes or impacts: “How will we know we have made progress?”

She said: “[The committee has] deep concerns that this additional funding will once again not deliver the services that the children with SEND, their parents and carers have a right to expect, and all Surrey residents should demand.”

Cllr Davidson said an injection of £15 million into SEND services in July 2023 was promised to enable many process improvements in communications, IT changes and strengthen governance. “Was this £15 million value for money?” she asked cabinet members.

She said: “To make matters worse, many of the backlog EHCPs which the £15 million funded turned out not to be fit for purpose. These backlog EHCPs have contributed to the rising number of appeals by parents to the SEND tribunal.

“The human cost of these poor EHCPs have been extremely depressing […] Children not in school for months and years, families wrung out by trying to get support, schools at the end of their ability to cope trying to get very specialist support for their students. So we wondered, was that £15 million value for money?”

Although she agreed the investment has delivered significant Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP) timeliness, she said it is not clear that it has achieved much else promised two years ago.

Tim Oliver – Leader of Surrey County Council

Tim Oliver, Conservative Leader of Surrey County Council, defended the new plans, insisting the focus would be on prevention, early intervention and supporting families more effectively.

He said: “It’s absolutely wrong that families feel pushed down that route to find the solution that is right for their child.

“This cabinet is very focused on spending every pound or penny of public money effectively.”