English councils warn of ‘catastrophic’ Send debts forecast to hit £10bn by 2028

Politics The Guardian By Patrick Butler and Richard Adams 12 Oct 2026 23:01 1 min read
English councils warn of ‘catastrophic’ Send debts forecast to hit £10bn by 2028

Surge in EHCP applications poses risk to public finances and may lead to deteriorating levels of support Councils are warning of potentially “catastrophic” debts, which are forecast to reach a record £10bn over the next 18 months, as a result of rapid growth in demand for special educational needs and disability (Send) support in English schools. Although the government recently cleared more than £5bn in historic council Send debts, a surge in requests has led to authorities predicting they will

Although the government recently cleared more than £5bn in historic council Send debts, a surge in requests has led to authorities predicting they will have re-accrued that debt figure by April, and doubled it by 2028.

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