Brent' Council's efforts to address the local manifestation of the national SEND crisis

 

This image from the House of Commons Education Committee Report 'SOLVING THE SEND CRISIS' Easy Read sums up the issue faced national and in Brent in providing for the rising number of children with special needs and disabilities.

The report states:

The evidence shows a lack of standardisation in both ordinarily available provision and Special Educational Needs (SEN) support, with no clear, consistent understanding of what these should involve in practice. We heard from parents and carers that this inconsistency leads to variable quality of provision, which in turn is driving more families to seek support through specialist placements or by securing an EHC plan. It is unacceptable that aclear definition of inclusive education is still lacking.

The numbers are striking:

Since the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014, the number of children and young people identified with special educational needs (SEN) has surged from 1.3 million to 1.7 million.1 Today over 1.2 million children and young people receive SEN support, and nearly half a million have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Behind these numbers are families navigating a system that too often feels adversarial, fragmented and under-resourced.

In Brent LINK the numbers  have increased significanty leading to the need for additional  provision and the Council paying for places in other boroughs and in the private sector:

As of August 2025, there are 4025 children and young people living in Brent aged 0-25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Of these, 2414 are statutory school age, or 5.5% of the school population (similar to national levels, which currently sit at 5.3%). 12% of pupils are identified with additional needs that can be met at SEN support where a need is identified but does not meet threshold for an EHCP (compared to 14.2% nationally).

In the last year, the number of EHCPs has increased across all age groups, but not consistently.

The age groups with the highest increases in EHCP numbers were the 5-10 and 16-19 age groups, which saw increases of 8.2% and 7.4% respectively. Table 19, below, gives the EHCP % increases between 2024 and 2025 broken down by age group. It should be noted, though, that in 2024, EHCNAs for children aged 0-5 accounted for 41.3% of all new requests to assess, children aged 5-10 accounted for 39% of new requests and children/young people aged 11- 25 accounted for the remaining 19.7%.

 

The national pattern of need  is indicated by this chart from the House of Commons Report:

 

The Brent report just lists EHC Plan pupils (Blue in the above  national chart)

Communication and interaction (Including autism spectrum condition) 58.33%*

Cognitive and Leaning needs 24.06%

Social, Emotional and Mental Health 10.34%

Senseory and/or physical needs 6.73%

Other needs 0.55% 

* This has increased by 2% in just one year.

 

Brent note The predominance of Communication and Interactions as the most commonly occurring primary need in Brent’s EHCP cohort looks set to continue with the Early Years SEND team reporting 75-85% of their referrals over a 12-year period being for concerns regarding CI development. This is a national trend and is not unique to Brent.

 

London Borough of Brent provision 

 

You will notice that with the exception of The Phoenix Arch all the special schools are academies. It is significant that there is a strike over reduced wages for learning support assistants at Woodfield School currently following last year's strike at The Village School.

Wembley Manor, part of the Rise Academy Trust, a new school in London Road, Wembley has staggered its entry, not rising to its full capacity until September 2027.

In addition to the schools above there is additional provision in some other schools, often in spaces freed up by a reduction in primary pupil numbers:

Expansion of some schools is planned for 2025-2027 including on the Strathcona site in South Kenton that was once suggested as the site fro Islamia Primary, now moving to the Leopold Brentfield road site.:
 

Extracts from the Brent School Place Planning Document

 

Ongoing targeted work to support schools and settings to better meet the needs of children with SEND has seen an increase in the number of children remaining within mainstream education in Brent. However, despite increasing confidence in the mainstream sector to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, and significant investment by Brent to increase the capacity within special educational settings and ARPs in the borough, additional special school places are required. Key numbers are as follows:

 

 48% of all children with an EHCP in Brent attend a mainstream school provision. This is an increase of 1% since this time last year.

 However, in terms of age-groups, 37% of primary aged children and 49% of secondary aged children with an EHCP require a special school place. Numerically this is expressed as 634 and 587 children respectively.

 Communication and Interaction is the area of need most strongly correlated with placement in special for both primary and secondary aged children with an EHCP in Brent, followed by Cognition and Learning for both age groups.

 

Manstream school pupils waiting for a special school place 

 

Brent currently has 136 children in mainstream schools awaiting a place in special (an increase of 16% since this time last year). Of these 136, 128 are primary age and 8 are secondary age.

 

Additionally, Brent currently has 16 children unplaced and receiving home tuition whilst a placement is sought (a 6% decrease since this time last year). Of these 16, 8 are primary aged and 8 are secondary aged. The primary need of the majority of these children is communication and interaction (most commonly ASC), accompanied by cognition and learning needs. 

 

The cost of out-of-borough and private provision is c£23m

 

199 Brent pupils with EHCPs attend out-of-borough maintained special schools (an increase of 2% since this time last year), at a cost of £5.6m per annum. This represents 8% of Brent’s school age children with an EHCP. Additionally, 197 children attend independent schools (an increase of 1.5% since last year), at a cost of £11.9m per annum. This also represents 8% of Brent’s school age children with an EHCP. The use of independent places has increased along with the cost of each place meaning that cost pressures associated with independent places have increased disproportionately to the percentage increase in places used. The transport costs for Brent children with an EHCP attending out of borough and independent provisions is circa. £6m per annum.

 

Total places requirement

 

Given the above, if all Brent children were to access a place at a maintained, in-borough special school, Brent would require a total of 1221 places (634 primary and 587 secondary), with the majority of these places being for children who have either communication and interaction or cognition and learning as their primary area of need. Brent currently has 480 places in primary age special school classes and 497 places in secondary age special school places. Of these places, 12% are occupied by children from other boroughs, leaving 422 primary places available and 437 secondary places available. Given this, Brent has a current shortfall of 212 primary places in special and 150 secondary places in special. 

 

As outlined above, to prevent Brent children with EHCP being unplaced, the independent sector, home tuition, out of borough schools and the mainstream sector are all currently being utilised.

 

The number of forecast primary special places required is similar to last year’s predictions. The latest forecasts for secondary special places are, however, higher than last year’s predictions by 50 places. This means that additional secondary places may be required sooner than previously anticipated due to increased demand:

 In August 2024, 42% of secondary age pupils were described as requiring a place in a special school. In August 2025, that percentage has risen 7% to 49%, representing a difference of circa. 41 children. 

 The increase in secondary aged children requiring a place in special is attributed to rising levels of need in Brent’s younger children as they reach secondary age. 

 Permanent exclusions in the last academic have had a disproportionate impact on children with SEND, reflecting pressures in capacity and mainstream schools’ ability to meet pupil’s needs.

The reasons for the increase in special need applications are still being debated and include better diagnosis, the impact of Covid and the school closures, and less communication between parent/carers and children in an age of mobile phone. Another article would be need to fully explore this.

There are now no local authority secondary schools in Brent. They are all stand alone academies, part of an academy chain or free schools. Anecdotally, some are more reluctant to take SEND pupils than others. 

The variety of provision, some seemingly quite ad hoc, its privatised aspects, and its cost, all have led to  Brent Council's plans to provide more in-borough provision. The privatisation and profit-making entering the arena are also reflected in very expensive private provision Child Social Care.

The National Education Union has set out is demands regarding SEND:

The NEU wants the Government to address these 5 immediate challenges on inclusion:

• Needs led funding – for SEND support, Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and local SEND and mental health services. 
• A strategy to reduce Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) workload. 
• Support staff numbers must be maintained and increased. 
• Time for staff planning, family liaison and CPD. 
• DFE must support knowledge exchange and professional skills around inclusion across all curriculum subjects.  

The following goals can build positive experiences for learners with SEND:

• Every child/young person attends a school/college with an inclusive ethos. 
• Every student is assessed early and regularly for learning and social and emotional needs and appropriate support can be provided. 
• Every child/young person has a strong relationship with a trusted adult in school/college. 
• Parents/carers are engaged partner

 

The question of what is truly inclusive mainstream provision is one considered by the House of Commons Education Committee:

It would be really usesul to have a meeting or conference  in Brent open to young people, parents and educators to discuss the current SEND crisis and solutions.