25 November 2015 weekly update

Dear Colleagues

High Needs Funding

The new system to provide top up funding for High Needs pupils (those requiring more than £6000 worth of support for special educational needs) was implemented from 1 April 2015.

This is a brief summary of the progress we have made so far and the improvements we are making. We reported the progress to the Schools' Funding Forum on 20 November and I attach the presentation (PDF, 353.1 KB) that was used.

High Needs Funding has historically been grouped into three different categories of SEN:

• Category A - Pupils with a statement of 25 hours support or more 
• Category B - Pupils with a statement of less than 25 hours support 
• Category C - Pupils without a statement but intervention costs more than £6,000

We estimated the cost of providing the funding to be £10m in the first year. This was subsequently transferred from the schools notional SEN funding (from the low prior attainment factor in the funding formula) to High Needs in order to meet this additional cost. Please see Kent's new High Needs funding policy.

The total number of HNPs has increased gradually from the start of the year to just over 2,000 in July and August. This is in line with historic trends which suggest that there is a steady increase in HNP numbers across the academic year. Schools need to submit new applications for transfers from Primary to Secondary schools and Pre 16 to Post 16 in the autumn term. September's numbers do not include the majority of these transfers and it is our expectation that schools will shortly be submitting applications for these pupils.

In September 2015 there were 350 successful new high needs applications. Of the 350, 82 were previously classified as category A's and 39 were previously classified as category B's leaving a total of 229 pupils that are new applications. Of the 350 total applications 47% do not have an EHCP or statement. 165 pupils out of 229 new applications (72%) have accessed funding through the new process without having to have a statutory assessment. This is a welcome statistic and in line with a key objective of the new system to provide support without the need for a statutory assessment.

Overall 78% of HNF applications have been accepted, while the deferred applications are awaiting additional information. ASD and Speech and Language needs make up the most frequent claims. The largest number of claims is for Reception Year pupils, while the fewest claims have been for pupils in Key Stage 4.

The average annual cost paid under the new process is £13,886 for the 229 new HNPs that were previously not an A or a B category of SEN. Overall across all need types there is a slight increase in cost from £14,588 to £15,087 and there are different variations in funding depending on need type. Interestingly Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has a similar cost of £14,551 under the old system to £14,714 under the new system. We are confident that the new method targets the funding at the pupil more effectively, for example there are 80 ASD pupils and the funding ranges from £7,000 to £23,000.

We are still at an early stage of the introduction of the new funding mechanism for High Needs pupils in mainstream schools and we need to run the system for a whole year to understand the impact. Overall we are seeing an increase in the numbers of pupils eligible for High Needs Funding in mainstream schools and FE colleges. The current forecast is for an annual 4% to 5% increase in SEN numbers compared to a general 1.5% to 2% annual increase in the overall school population up to 2018-19. The provisional estimated spend for High Needs funding in 2015-16 is £14m.

Overall, the spend on all SEN provision will have increased from £119m in 2013-14 to £137m in 2016-17. This is placing considerable pressure on the DSG and the general funding available to all schools. The Funding Forum is taking steps to ensure this does not result in a reduction in the school funding rates for all schools in the coming year.

We are aware that, in the early months of implementation, the system has been time consuming and we have taken a number of steps to streamline it and improve timescales. The KCC High Needs Funding Officers currently make contact with schools to discuss applications within a few days and make decisions on HNF applications within a fortnight. This means that most schools begin to receive funds within 6 weeks of their initial application.

Initially, due to unfamiliarity with the online application process and the information that was required, applications were taking SENCos longer than anticipated to complete. HNF Officers have attended AEN Update meetings and SENCo Forum meetings to provide more guidance on the process. Officers have also been offering individual support to SENCos, either over the phone or at their school. SENCos who have made several applications are now reporting that they can complete it within an average of 2 hours.

The schools where the process appears to be more straightforward are those where the SEN Core Standards and Provision Mapping are well established, and there has been good use of the LIFT process.

The online system and process continue to be developed with feedback from the SENCos and schools. There is also a High Needs Funding User Group. Below is a summary of some of the feedback and suggestions received, along with what was done in response.

For example, schools wanted some additional staff to be able to enter information on applications to save Headteachers and SENCos valuable time. Therefore, additional staff were given access to the system to enter information and Headteachers were able to delegate their responsibility to submit the form to a nominated member of staff.

Schools wanted applications that had been deferred to have funding backdated to the date of the initial application once it is agreed and as no school should be disadvantaged by the request for additional information, this was agreed.

Schools felt that the amount of information needed for the application was time consuming. Therefore the number of 'narrative questions' were streamlined and reduced. Schools wanted the format of the timetable to be more user-friendly and a plug-in software version was sourced and purchased.

Next Steps

The new process for re-application will be available from December and funding details are now on EHCPs. Agreed provision plans for HNF will be shared with local authority SEN Placement Officers to be incorporated into the EHC Plan. For pupils with an EHC Plan the funding will be tied in with the Annual Review date, however, funding is agreed until the payment period after the Annual Review so that schools have time to make their applications.

For more information, support and advice please contact the Head of SEN, Julie.Ely@kent.gov.uk or the SEN Monitoring and QA Officer, Louise.Langley@kent.gov.uk

Patrick Leeson
Corporate Director of Education and Young People's Services