SEND system in Cambridgeshire at 'crisis' point - parent
The county council faces a near £100 million deficit in SEND services
Last updated 15th Jan 2026
A parent believes the system that deals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in Cambridgeshire has reached crisis point.
Chloe's three children have all had difficulties with the SEND system, which she's continuing to try and change through both her legal work and a local parent support group she's a part of.
"It changes your life, it transforms every day, it's crisis," she said.
Chloe's youngest son, who's seven-years-old, is currently not registered at a school after being taken out of mainstream education in May last year due to safeguarding issues.
He has certain learning difficulties, including dyslexia, and currently Chloe pays for his learning.
She is waiting for Cambridgeshire County Council to decide through an education, health and care needs assessment whether or not it can meet her son's needs.
"I have to strive every day to meet his needs and it is frustrating because the provision out there is very laxed," Chloe said.
"Group-wise, there's very little (support) out there for any community of parent, whether you're a parent of elected home education, or a deregistered child like my situation, there's nothing out there.
"You are alone."
£100m deficit
Last month, the county council said since 2019, it has seen a 42% increase in supporting children with SEND.
In its budget for 2025-26, the authority predicted an overspend of almost £10 million and a deficit in SEND costs of nearly £100m.
The Government continues to temporarily keep this deficit off the council's books through a 'statutory override', but that is set to expire in March 2028.
When that happens, Councillor Lucy Nethsingha - leader of Cambridgeshire County Council - has warned the authority would fall into section 114, where councils effectively declare themselves as bankrupt.
Of these pupils with identified SEN, around 1.3 million receive SEN Support, and around 0.5 million have Education, Health, and Care plans.
Is there a solution?
In January last year, there were more than 1.7 million schoolchildren in England that were identified as having SEN, according to the Department for Education (DfE).
Of these pupils, around 1.3 million receive SEN Support, and around 500,000 have Education, Health, and Care plans (EHCPs) for people aged up to 25-years-old setting out the needs of those who require more support.
Last year, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission said SEND services in Cambridgeshire needed to improve such as with EHCPs and mental health support.
Council officers had said £780,000 could try to tackle issues around completing EHCPs in the hope of speeding up children's assessments.
A SEND parent support group in Cambridgeshire that Chloe is a member of has around 3,500 members, all with similar concerns.
"The local authority needs to start engaging with families properly, there needs to be full blown transparency, but crucially, if EHCPs were written properly from the word 'go', we wouldn't have as many children struggling as we have," Chloe said.
"If we've got a school of 800 children and a SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) who only works two days a week, how are they identifying what the needs are?"
Demand for SEND only rising
Cambridgeshire County Council faces a 12% annual increase in demand for SEND services.
Cllr Nethsingha has previously said that setting the current budget was "the toughest since I became leader and there are really difficult decisions to be made.
"Rising costs and increasing demand for social care services mean these are the main areas where we have to spend more."
A Government White Paper looking at reforms to the SEND system is due to be published this year.
“We will continue engaging with parents, teachers and local authorities to fix the system, including investing at least £3bn nationally to create 50,000 specialist places - as well as set out our full plans to reform the system through the Schools White Paper early this year," a DfE spokesperson said.
“Our changes will make sure children get support at the earliest stage, while bringing about financial sustainability for councils.
"We are clear that any deficit from 2028-29 onwards will be absorbed within the overall government budget.”
We have asked Cambridgeshire County Council for comment.