{"id":67181,"date":"2025-09-19T10:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=67181"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:13:13","slug":"investing-in-local-provision-to-support-more-children-closer-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/investing-in-local-provision-to-support-more-children-closer-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in local provision to support more children closer to home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cabinet Members have been told that the Dedicated Schools Grant, which funds special educational needs and disabilities services, is forecasting an overspend this financial year of \u00a353.3 million, according to the council\u2019s month four financial position.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they also heard that month four is very early in the budget monitoring cycle and that much will change as the year progresses, with officers taking action to ensure spend is brought into balance by the year end.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t
\r\n

Councillor Denise Bickley, Cabinet Member with responsibility for SEND, said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cWe understand that recent media coverage about Devon\u2019s SEND budget may be concerning you, and we want to reassure you that our priority remains firmly on supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenges we are facing around rising demand and the significant financial pressures we are under due to increased costs are not unique to Devon. Many councils across the country are experiencing similar situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our ongoing improvement programme, we\u2019re taking action to reduce our overspend while continuing to improve the quality and accessibility of our SEND services. We are strengthening relationships with our health and education partners to ensure we are all pushing in the same direction to improve the entire offer for Devon\u2019s young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes investing in local provision so we can support more children closer to home, rather than relying on external placements, which are costly, and often require longer journeys for families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also working closely with government and partners to push for the national changes that are urgently needed to make the SEND system more sustainable and effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\t
\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor Denise Bickley, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services – SEND<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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