Councillors were warned of the lack of available funds to successfully deliver an £18.5m special educational needs and disabilities strategy in Hackney.

Speaking at a Hackney Cabinet meeting, Sajeed Patni, interim head of finance, warned of the council’s lack of funds to successfully employ the full SEND strategy.  

He stressed that it would cost them an extra £5m even before central Government cuts their funding: “SEND deficit for Hackney in 2022/23 is circa £13.9 million, based on current forecasts this will increase to circa £18.5 million by the end of this financial year.”  

Patni questioned whether the Cabinet had identified “all the direct financial implications” of the strategy before they agreed upon it.  

He said: “This will require significant management actions and investment to address the current position.”  

Mayor Phillip Glanville recognised this “funding gap from national government” during his closing comments to the Cabinet but insisted “we [will] go back to government and continue to lobby on as we have done in the past”. 

Hackney is included in the ‘Delivering Better Value in SEND’ programme which, if an agreement between its representatives and the council is made, could provide a grant of £1 million to aid in closing the deficit.  

The four key pillars of the strategy are: providing outstanding provision and services, responding earlier to needs, preparing people for adulthood, and joining up services to execute it.  

Councillor Caroline Woodley acknowledged this need to keep track of the SEND strategy: “[It’s] an ambitious action plan which obviously needs to be monitored, held to account, and measured, and we will do all of those things.”  

There are currently one in 20 Hackney children and young people with special educational needs, ranking the borough 12th in the country. This strategy will be in place to help them from December 1 until 2025.

The council will work alongside schools, using data such as exclusions and attendance to identify individuals who will benefit from the support offered. 

Woodley brought the strategy forward in the Cabinet meeting: “We want the absolute best for children and young people, and that means every child.” 

Joseph Wilson, head of SEND for Hackney, authored the Cabinet report for the strategy. He wrote: “The purpose of this strategy is to champion equality and to ensure that families, children and young people are included and thrive within their local community.” 

It is part of the borough’s wider aim to “eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.” 

Though the approach is data-heavy, relying on information provided by schools and health and social care systems, there is also an emphasis on including and getting feedback from the children and their parents/carers. 

Lucinda Bell, the councils education legal advisor stressed in the report the importance of “the views, wishes and feelings of the child and their parent”. They must participate “as fully as possible” in the SEND strategy decision making.  

She wrote: “[The aim is] to facilitate the development of a child or young person to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.” 

People up to 25-years-old will benefit from the SEND strategy for the next three years.