Briefings and responses

Consultation response from the LGA.

A consultation on reforms to the SEND system, SEND reform: putting children and young people first, was published alongside the Schools White Paper and sets out a broader set of reforms which build on the proposals set out in chapter 3 of the White Paper. The LGA will be working closely with member councils in the coming weeks to shape our consultation response.

We welcome the Budget announcement that the Government will absorb SEND costs from 2028/29. The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits, however, represent a substantial ongoing fiscal risk to councils in the absence of a plan to address them when the statutory override ends in 2027/28.

We welcome the publication of this Bill, which includes many issues that the Local Government Association has been calling for many years in relation to education and safeguarding

LGA response to the improving the way Ofsted inspects education consultation.

Response to the Department for Education’s School accountability reform – school profiles, improvement and intervention consultation

Inclusive SEND reform can deliver better outcomes for every child at a fraction of future costs, while safeguarding local authority budgets

We welcome the Government’s provision of an additional £1 billion in funding for SEND at the recent Budget.

The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill amends the non-domestic rating system in England to enable the introduction of new multipliers (i.e. tax rates). The Bill introduces powers to create new lower multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties and higher multipliers for the high value properties. The Bill also removes the eligibility of private schools that are charities for charitable business rates relief.