More Funding To Increase SEND Provision

Published on: 1 Oct, 2026
Updated on: 1 Oct, 2026

By James Moules

local democracy reporter

A £26.7 million funding package to bolster provision for SEND education in Surrey has been approved by councillors amid a surge in demand for specialist support.

Surrey County Council’s cabinet this week discussed recommendations to allocate the funding – which was received through central government grants – to meet the needs of SEND pupils across the county.

This money will be used to create hundreds of new specialist places for children across both East and West Surrey.

Deputy Education lead Cllr Clare Curran (Con, Bookham and Fetcham West) told councillors: “The paper, which has been considered in detail by the select committee – and takes their recommendations into account – reflects the scale of the challenge we continue to face.

“Since 2019, the number of education, health and care plans in this county has more than doubled – rising from around nine and half thousand to some twenty thousand today.”

Of the funding, £8.1 million is due to go to creating places to support children with complex autism spectrum conditions in West Surrey, while the remaining £18.8 million will be spread across both West and East Surrey to support SEND education.

This £18.8 million portion of the funding will be split 55 percent to 45 percent between West and East Surrey – a split that is based on the Department for Education’s own methodology and would be the same allocation dealt out by the government had the new two unitary councils already been created.

Cllr Clare Curran

But Cllr Curran warned: “The demand for places and specialist support continues to outpace supply, particularly at points of key transition.

“As a result, we must continue expanding our specialist capacity to ensure that children can access high quality provision that can meet their needs closer to home.”

She added: “There will still be overall a significant shortfall of specialist school places against projections, and it will still be inevitably the case that the new SEND services will need to place children and young people in unmaintained and independent settings.”

According to the committee report, this new funding should deliver 399 new places, as well as making 54 temporary places permanent – which will be subject to consultation.

The report says: “The funding to create additional specialist places for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities helps the Council meet its priority objective of tackling health inequality and empowered and thriving communities, ensuring no one is left behind.

“Delivering school places closer to home reduces the dependence on non-maintained and independent school places, improving outcomes for children and young people and reducing future placement pressures and associated expenditure for successor authorities.”