Kingston SEND Funding Formula Creates Inequalities, Council Meeting Reveals

Kingston's funding formula for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is creating significant inequalities, a council meeting has revealed. Councillors discussed the 2026-27 finance update during a Schools Forum meeting on Monday, September 28, 2026.

Charis Penfold highlighted that the historical high-needs block formula is a key contributor to these disparities. A pupil in Kingston has a very significantly lower amount of high needs spend than a pupil in Sutton, Penfold stated, explaining that this is due to the formula's origins. The high-needs block formula and how it was originally devised, I would say, you know, it was very difficult and was not consistent across all local areas. So, we are living with that formula. For example, a pupil in Kingston has a very significantly lower amount of high needs spend than a pupil in Sutton and that is a historical formula and you times that by the number of children. That accounts for a lot of the challenges that we have.

Councillor Sachin Tulyani had raised concerns about how Kingston's SEND funding compares to other boroughs, asking about benchmarking Kingston's Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) performance against neighbours like Richmond. Melanie Hanson acknowledged that Richmond is experiencing similar pressures to Kingston. While national data on average post-16 and under-16 student costs is available, and statistical neighbours are used for benchmarking, specific findings from comparisons with other neighbouring boroughs beyond Richmond were not detailed.

Efforts are underway to address these inequalities. Part of the SEND reforms and ongoing national funding formula discussions aim to resolve long-term formulaic decisions that cause disparity. A key initiative within the SEND Futures Plan is the Specialist Expertise at Hand model, designed to offer early intervention, advice, and support to schools, providers, and early years settings, reducing the need for formal Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments. Furthermore, there is a focus on promoting inclusivity within mainstream schools, supported by a locally developed inclusion charter and strategy. The existing cluster model is also being expanded to foster proactive networking and partnership work between Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs).

The meeting documents, including the Public reports pack Monday 28 Sep 2026 16.00 Schools Forum, provide further details on the finance update and discussions.