SEND Crisis in England: Solutions for Local Authorities

As of January 2025, there were 638,745 Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in place in England, a 10.8% increase from the previous year, whilst 97,747 new EHCPs were initiated in 2024 alone, up 15.8% from 2023. Behind these numbers are children waiting months for vital support, families facing mental health crises, and local authorities warning they cannot sustain the current trajectory.

Without urgent intervention, SEND deficits could reach £18 billion by 2029, with annual overspends of £4.4 billion threatening the viability of council services across England. For the families at the heart of this crisis, these figures translate into exhausting battles for basic support, long waits for assessments, and the constant worry that their child's needs will go unmet.

The challenges facing local authorities are multifaceted and systemic. Demand for EHCPs has more than doubled since the 2014 reforms, whilst mainstream schools increasingly lack the capacity to support children with additional needs. The number of pupils in special schools has soared to about 188,426, compared with just 109,000 in 2014/15, driven by an over-reliance on costly private placements that councils can ill afford, according to County Councils Network.

Despite plans for reform under the SEND Improvement Plan, implementation has been slow. The government’s promised SEND reform white paper, which was expected in spring 2025 to set out structual changes to the system, has been delayed with no confirmed publication date. This leaves councils to manage rising demand with limited resources and no clarity on when the fundamental reforms will arrive.

For families navigating this system, the experience is often described as adversarial and overwhelming. Research from the National Deaf Children’s Society found that 85% of families had to fight to get the right support in their child’s EHCP, with many facing substantial legal costs and lengthy battles to access provisions their children are legally entitled to. The mental health toll on both children waiting for support and parents fighting for it cannot be overstated.

Local authorities face a difficult conundrum: statutory duties to deliver EHCP provisions without the funding or infrastructure to meet spiralling demand efficiently. The temporary accounting measure allowing councils to keep SEND deficits off their balance sheets ends in March 2026, leaving many authorities facing potential Section 114 notices unless fundamental reforms are implemented.

True transformation requires more than funding adjustments; it demands a fundamental reimagining of how local authorities identify needs, allocate resources, coordinate multi-agency support, and ensure accountability.

The consensus from local government, parent carer forums, and education professionals points towards several critical priorities: rebuilding capacity in mainstream settings through significant investment, ensuring earlier intervention before needs escalate, creating consistent national frameworks for SEND standards, and crucially, reducing the administrative burden that diverts resources away from frontline support.

Technology must play a central role in this transformation. The government’s 2026 priorities for SEND reform emphasise improving timeliness and reducing bureaucracy in the EHCP process. Yet children still wait months for EHCPs whilst caseworkers struggle with outdated systems and fragmented data. Modern, integrated platforms are not just desirable but essential to meeting these stated priorities and delivering timely support to children who need it.

Access Synergy is being reimagined to deliver a comprehensive solution that helps local authorities navigate the current SEND challenges whilst building sustainable, high-quality provision for the future.

SEND Reimagined addresses the operational challenges councils face today by streamlining the entire EHCP lifecycle, from initial request through assessment, planning, review, and outcome tracking. By bringing together education, health, and social care data in one integrated platform, councils can eliminate duplication, reduce administrative burden, and ensure every professional working with a child has access to the information they need.

Key Benefits for Local Authorities

• Improved Efficiency Without Compromising Quality: Automated workflows guide caseworkers through statutory processes, ensuring compliance with the 20-week timescale whilst maintaining the person-centred approach families deserve. Real-time dashboards provide visibility of caseloads, bottlenecks, and performance against statutory duties, enabling proactive management before deadlines are missed.
• Better Outcomes for Children and Families: When families can track their child's EHCP progress online, submit evidence digitally, and communicate directly with their caseworker through a secure portal, the experience becomes less adversarial and more collaborative. Parents report feeling more informed and involved, reducing anxiety and improving trust in the process.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: With comprehensive analytics on demand patterns, provision costs, and outcome measures, SEND leaders can identify where preventative support could reduce escalation to statutory assessment, which mainstream settings need additional capacity building, and how resources can be allocated most effectively to improve outcomes whilst managing budgets.
• Multi-Agency Collaboration: Breaking down silos between education, health, and social care is fundamental to delivering truly coordinated support. SEND Reimagined facilitates seamless information sharing across agencies whilst maintaining appropriate governance and data protection, ensuring the child's full needs are understood and met holistically.

Regardless of what future policy reforms may bring, local authorities need systems that are flexible, scalable, and built on solid foundations of data integrity and process efficiency. Councils implementing modern SEND management platforms now will be better positioned to adapt to whatever changes lie ahead, whether that's managing increasing EHCP numbers, implementing new frameworks for graduated support, or demonstrating accountability for outcomes.

The challenges facing England's SEND system are formidable, but they are not insurmountable. With the right combination of political will, funding, system reform, and technological enablement, councils can move from crisis management to genuinely transformative practice that puts children and families at the heart of everything they do.

The Access Group has been supporting local authorities to deliver better outcomes for vulnerable children for decades. We understand the pressures you face, the statutory requirements you must meet, and the aspirations you hold for every child in your community. SEND Reimagined represents our commitment to being not just a software provider, but a genuine partner in your journey towards sustainable, effective SEND provision.

Discover how Access Synergy is being reimagined to help local authorities manage rising SEND demand, improve efficiency, and deliver better outcomes for children and families. Contact our team today to learn more and explore how we can support your journey toward sustainable SEND provision.