Early years funding
Early years providers receive money from the Nursery Education Grant and Free Early Education Entitlement to help prepare children for Reception in primary school.
Pupils with low level needs and emerging SEND may be given some additional SEND Inclusion Funding.
Pupils who have higher level needs may be given some further top up funding through the Early Years Inclusion team. The educational setting where your child attends can contact the team on the details below.
Leicestershire County Council Early Years send and Inclusion Team
Call: 0116 305 7136 (lines open daily from 9:00 to 12:00)
Email: childcare@leics.gov.uk
There is also further information on the Leicestershire County Councils Local offer pages.
Primary and secondary funding
All mainstream schools receive money for special educational needs support and resources. Schools can decide how to spend this money. This is called “delegated” funding because it is given (delegated) to schools by local authorities or the Education Funding Agency from money they receive from central government. The SEND part of the school’s income is sometimes called the “notional” SEND budget because it is not based on the school’s actual numbers of pupils with special needs, but on a formula.
Funding for SEND provision is from three sources (“elements”):
Element 1
Schools get money for each pupil, based on actual pupil numbers. This is called the Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU) and it is part of schools’ delegated funding. Some of this money is for general SEND provision. This might, for example, include the cost of providing the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and some other resources.
Each local authority sets the AWPU for their schools, and the Education Funding Agency sets the AWPU for academies and free schools. The AWPU differs according to whether the school is primary or secondary etc.
Element 2
Element 2 funding is SEND-specific, and is to provide SEND support for children who need it. This is support that is additional to or different from the support that most other children get. SEND support is for children who used to have help through SEND Support Plan.
The local authority provides this funding for schools it is responsible for using a formula that determines the amount of money the school gets. The formula gives more money to schools that in the past had more children on free school meals and more children who were not doing as well as others in English and Maths. The Education Funding Agency provides this funding for academies and free schools. Element 2 funding is also part of schools’ delegated budget.
Government guidance says schools should provide up to the first £6,000 (on top of the AWPU) of additional or different support for those children who need it, including those with an Education, Health and Care plan. This does not mean that the school will spend £6,000 on every child with SEND. Sometimes schools use funds to help groups of children. Some children will need less help – and some children may need more.
You can ask your school how it uses its SEND budget to support your child and whether it has enough to make all the provision they need. The local authority also publishes a Local Offer that explains what type of resources this money might be spent on.
Element 3
Where a school has children needing very expensive provision which might absorb a lot of the SEND support funding, the school can request additional funding. The local authority is responsible for managing Element 3 funding (sometimes called the ‘high needs block’), which can be used to make specific provision for an individual child or a group of children, if the school or academy can show it is necessary.
You can find details of how this funding is allocated in the Leicestershire County Councils Local Offer
These funding arrangements do not override the local authority’s duty to your child to ensure they receive any necessary provision that the school itself cannot make. The law says that the local authority must find out via an EHC needs assessment whether an EHC plan is needed when a child or young person may have SEND that may need the local authority to secure provision. So if your school is unable to make all the provision your child needs, you have the right to ask for an EHC needs assessment.
Who manages the school’s SEND resources
The SEND Code of Practice says:
It is for schools, as part of their normal budget planning, to determine their approach to using their resources to support the progress of pupils with SEN. The SENCO, headteacher and governing body or proprietor should establish a clear picture of the resources that are available to the school. They should consider their strategic approach to meeting SEN in the context of the total resources available, including any resources targeted at particular groups, such as the pupil premium. (6.97)
School governors are responsible for the school’s policy on SEND. The headteacher and the SENCO ensure that the policy is put into practice. The SENCO organises support for individual children, but every teacher is responsible making sure that your child’s special educational needs are met in the classroom.
The SEND Information Report on the school’s website tells you more about the arrangements for SEND support and how to contact the SENCO.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) their support will be written in this document. EHCP’s do not have additional funding as the child should already be receiving the relevant funding that they need but if they are struggling to meet need and need additional funding the school/college can speak to the SENA Team to discuss this further.
Other funding streams may be in place as part of health and social care needs within an EHCP known as direct payments and personal budgets. You can contact the local authorities SENA department to discuss this further.
Leicestershire County Council SENA team
Call: 0116 305 6600 during office hours
Email: SenaService@leics.gov.uk
Contact the SENA service
Post 16 funding (ALS)
Post 16 placements are funded by a place plus system. This means the local authority pays £10,000 per place.
Pupils are then allocated Additional Learner Support (ALS) to meet any additional support costs that they might have.
Specialist setting funding
When a child is attending a specialist SEND placement they are funded in a different way to a pupil at a mainstream school with SEND.
Maintained Specialist Provision in Leicestershire is funded by the local authority and they pay for the placement (£10,000) for each place at a specialist setting. Pupils are then allocated additional funding if they need it.
Disclaimer
Whilst we hope that you find these resources helpful, the information in this section is not endorsed by Leicestershire SENDIASS and we're not responsible for the content of sites or services offered by third parties.