Haringey Council has successfully worked with the Department for Education (DfE) to secure an additional £29.9m funding in return for delivering a range of projects focused on supporting more children and young people with SEND earlier in Haringey.
This follows an invitation by the DfE to participate in the 2022/23 Safety Valve Programme, a national scheme designed to assist local authorities in tackling overspends in their expenditure for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Like many authorities across the country, Haringey was predicted to have a significant SEND overspend by 2027/28 which, if unaddressed, could seriously impact council finances.
Safety Valve aims to encourage councils to transform how they provide support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), In Haringey, the council have made it a focus in how they support more children and young people with SEND as early as possible.
Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, Cllr Zena Brabazon, said:
“As the lead member for children, I am determined that our young people have the best possible start in life.
“With this in mind it is great news that we have been approved to be part of the Safety Valve Programme which will provide better outcomes for children and young people with SEND and their families here in our borough.
“Our proposals were developed in line with our ambitious SEND Strategy and informed by what children and young people with SEND, their carers/parents, and partners told us to ensure the finalised plans best meet our children and young people’s needs overall.”
Services being redesigned include those offering alternative education provision, earlier support and intervention for youngest children with SEND, and the commissioning of good quality education placements. In addition, the council is planning to develop more supported employment internships for young people with SEND in Haringey.
Work with health partners will also focus on redesigning Speech, Language and Communication pathways to support children and help them access the support they need earlier, without the need in some cases for statutory assessments and intervention.
As part of the Safety Valve agreement, the council has negotiated a further £7m in funding from the DfE to build local facilities to meet the needs of children and young people. This complements the council’s own commitment of £5m. These new places will add to our existing provision in our primary, secondary, post 16 and special schools for children and young people with a range of complex needs.
The Safety Valve Programme will run for 5 years until 2028 to help improve outcomes for our children and young people to redesign, reset and provide more support to children and their families in Haringey.
Further details on Haringey’s proposals can be found here: Dedicated schools grant: very high deficit intervention - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Progress to date on this programme will also be published on the SEND Local Offer here: Haringey's Local Offer | Haringey Council
