Speaking at a meeting, chief executive of the Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust Alan Hardie emphasised on a Government failure to properly fund education for special needs children.
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00:00The government has committed to a £740m investment in SEND education across the country as part
00:05of a drive to ensure more pupils have their needs met in mainstream schools.
00:09The rising number of children with additional needs has placed ever-increasing demand on
00:13an already stretched budget, leaving Northumberland County Council unable to balance the books
00:17by the end of April, as overall the school's budget will be £5.2m in deficit by the end
00:22of the year.
00:23Speaking at a meeting, Chief Executive of the Northumberland Church of England Academy
00:27Trust, Alan Hardy, emphasised on a government failure to properly fund education for special
00:32needs children.
00:33Mr Hardy, who also chairs the school's forum, said,
00:35We need to be very frustrated by this situation. When you talk to other school leaders and
00:40other local authorities, we're certainly not alone in this, unfortunately. It just
00:43represents the chronic undeaf funding of high needs over a long time, which we do hope the
00:47new government will address.
00:49Director of Children's Services Audrey Kingham stressed that Northumberland was not the only
00:53council facing issues with special educational needs and disabilities funding. She said the
00:57messages aren't changing, we understand the challenges.