Complaints about special educational needs and disability (SEND) services in England have soared, with the number of successful cases quadrupling over the past four years, highlighting the ongoing crisis in the system.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO), which oversees complaints against councils in England, upheld 1,043 SEND-related cases in 2024. This represents a nearly 40% increase compared to the 2023 figures, and is four times higher than the 258 upheld complaints in 2021.
SEND services, which cater to children with disabilities such as autism and ADHD, have always faced challenges, but the system has been in a state of crisis since the coalition government expanded the age range for young people entitled to SEND support without providing sufficient funding to local councils.
As demand for services has risen, government funding has not kept pace, leaving councils with mounting deficits. This has resulted in legally required provisions not being met, leaving many children and parents in crisis, often without access to adequate education. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the situation, with reports from Ofsted in 2021 showing that children with SEND were disproportionately affected during this period.
“These numbers provide further evidence that the SEND system in England is on the brink of collapse,” said Matthew Keer, a representative from the Special Needs Jungle platform. “Families don’t make these complaints lightly—they often have to exhaust local procedures before turning to the ombudsman for help.”
Despite the increase in successful complaints, the compensation paid out by councils is typically far less than the cost of providing the necessary services. As a result, even when complaints are upheld, local SEND practices often fail to improve.
The most common complaints concern delays in creating Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which are legally required documents outlining the specific support needed for children with SEND. Only about half of all EHCPs are produced within the 20-week legal time frame. In one case upheld by the ombudsman in 2024, Suffolk Council took 18 months to produce an EHCP, during which time the child missed out on education.
In total, the LGO received 1,527 SEND complaints in 2024, including those that were not upheld, compared to 1,086 in 2023 and 391 in 2021. The success rate for complainants has remained relatively steady over the years.
“We are well aware of the serious problems facing children with SEND and their families,” said Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. “The system is broken, and we know that it will not be fixed without fundamental changes. Our recommendations are fair and practical, and when we find significant and recurrent issues, we require local authorities to implement action plans to address them.”
The Department for Education has announced an investment of £1bn into SEND services and an additional £740m to create more specialist school places.
“Families are often forced to fight for the support they need in a system that is too focused on specialist provision and heavily reliant on EHCPs,” a Department for Education spokesperson stated. “We are committed to rebuilding trust in the system, and while reform will take time, our focus on mainstream provisions and early interventions will help deliver the change that families urgently need.”
Stay tuned to London Pulse News for more updates on the ongoing challenges and potential solutions for SEND services across England.
