Alternative SEN funding arrangements

Department for Education did not have the information requested.

Dear Department for Education,

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed with the Department for Education to make alternative arrangements for providing Element 3 funding for children with SEN. The effect is to raise the financial bar for statutory assessment from

approx £10,000 (AWPU + £6000 (Element 2)) to

approx £13,200 (AWPU + £6000 (Element 2) +£3200 (Element 3))

before an assessment is undertaken. The stated purpose of this policy is to avoid writing Education Health and Care Plans for approx 1500 children. I am aware this is not the legal test for statutory assessment.

Please confirm whether any other local authorities have put alternative funding arrangements in place, explain what those arrangements are and name those authorities.

I have attached a link to some North Yorkshire correspondence that sets out the alternative arrangements and have excerpted the relevant passage below.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...

Part 6 – This includes for North Yorkshire children, Element 3 funding relating to pupils that were previously supported by the schools delegated SEN budget, requiring additional educational support between £6,000 and £9,200. Rather than schools having to request statutory assessments for these pupils, it has been agreed with the DfE that funding will be allocated based upon the prior attainment of pupils and if the identified pupils are also entitled to free school meals. This will be treated in the same way as other Element 3 Funding in that the funding will follow the pupil.

Yours faithfully,

John Furlong

Department for Education

Dear Mr Furlong

Thank you for your recent enquiry. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0073144.

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

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Dear Department for Education,

I would be grateful if you could update me as to when you will reply to this request, now that the statutory time period has passed.

Yours faithfully,

John Furlong

Department for Education

Dear Mr Furlong, 
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 7 November. I
apologise for the lateness of the response. You requested information on alternative
funding arrangements local authorities have in place for Element 3 funding for children
with SEN in light of the agreement between North Yorkshire County Council and this
Department

You specifically asked the following:

“whether any other local authorities have put alternative funding arrangements in place,
explain what those arrangements are and name those authorities”.

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The information you requested is not held by the department. 

Local authorities are expected to publish clear information on Education, Health and
Care (EHC) needs assessments and their approach to decision-making about when an EHC
needs assessment is appropriate. Any guidelines the local authority publishes must be in
line with the Children and Families Act 2014, and with the Special Educational Needs and
Disability Code of Practice. Decisions about when to undertake an assessment will be
based on the authority’s guidance, but must take account of each individual child’s
circumstances, and therefore guidance cannot be operated as a blanket policy.

Local authorities are not expected to operate a financial threshold for deciding when a
needs assessment is appropriate. That is why the department agreed with a proposal from
North Yorkshire County Council that they could pay top-up funding for pupils with SEN
without needing to put in place an EHC plan. The department’s officials often discuss
with local authorities their high needs funding arrangements, but do not collect
information centrally on the way in which local authorities distribute top-up funding to
pay for individual pupils with SEN – that is a matter for them to decide. The department
has commissioned some research and published a call for evidence so that we can get more
information about how local authorities distribute funds for pupils with SEN, with a
view to developing a more formulaic distribution across the country in future. The link
is:
[1]www.gov.uk/government/consultations/funding-for-children-and-young-people-with-send. 
You would be welcome to submit your views.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote
the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should make a
complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar months of the date of
this letter. Your complaint will be considered by an independent review panel, who were
not involved in the original consideration of your request. 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the Department, you may
then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. 
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0073144. If you need to
respond to us, please visit: [2]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference
number.

Yours sincerely,

Nigel Fulton
0-25 SEN and Disability Unit
[3][email address]
[4]www.gov.uk/dfe

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References

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1. http://www.gov.uk/government/consultatio...
2. http://www.education.gov.uk/contactus
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.gov.uk/dfe