CALLS for extra cash to help fund support for Devon’s children with special needs and disabilities have been made after a government grant of £191m for historic expenditure.

The money from Westminster will be used to repay around 90 per cent of Devon County Council’s accumulated overspend as part of ongoing national efforts to reform special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) funding.

Devon’s total overspend up to March 2026 was around £218 million earlier this year after taking into account some recent payments to reduce it.

While the cash has been welcomed by the council, the SEND deficit for the current financial year is building, with predictions that it could hit around £88 million by April.

The offer from government to pay out the grants came earlier this year, but it relied on councils developing SEND improvement plans.

“We need to keep pushing as we are on the first rung of a ladder coming out of a swamp,” said Councillor Denise Bickley (Liberal Democrat, Sidmouth), the cabinet member for SEND.

“We know how bad it was, including personally for my son, and so this [grant offer by the government] is saying we are going in the right direction.

“A few councils have been turned down but the government has worked with us, although we need to keep shouting as we need more money because it is not fair that Devon’s pupils get so much less than other areas.”

Cllr Bickley said she was part of a group known as F40, a collective of the lowest-funded councils in terms of education funding.

Funding per pupil can be as high as £5,000 more in the best-funded areas compared to Devon.

The government has announced around £1 billion in extra funding in this financial year, rising to £1.5 billion per year in 2028/29 to help mainstream schools increase their offer for children with SEND, as well as extra money for local councils to increase the availability of specialists and funding for training teachers to support SEND pupils.

There will also be about £750 million per year in capital funding to adapt mainstream schools.

In terms of what the government liked about Devon’s plan to improve its SEND service, Cllr Bickley said better support early on for schools to identify possible SEND needs was working well, as well as better collaboration with external organisations, such as the NHS.

“The government recognised how well we are doing with our partnerships, as a couple of years ago Devon County Council was floundering on our own and not talking to the NHS or schools, but we are starting to get there now.”

She added that to make the aspiration of ensuring mainstream schools were as inclusive as possible would require more funding.

“If we want to make mainstream schools as inclusive as possible so that local people can go to school with their friends, we have to have a plan for that and it will cost more money,” Cllr Bickley said.

She said having SEND bases in schools was the focus, as these are “fantastic for young people who want to go to their mainstream school but need extra support with trained staff”.

Last year, Devon County Council saw Mark Vickers MBE, the chief executive of Olive Academies, commissioned as its first independent strategic advisor for inclusion.

Mr Vickers, who advises Ofsted on inclusion and is a member of the Department for Education’s advisory group for inclusion, has various targets as part of his role, including helping Devon to build capacity for alternative provision within schools.

Devon wants to reduce the amount it spends on specialist placements for SEND children across the county.

Councillor James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton), the cabinet member for finance, called the government pay out a “significant announcement for Devon”.

“It is important to be clear that this is not £191.3 million of new funding available to spend on SEND services or any other council service,” he said.

“The grant would cover 90 per cent of the accumulated DSG deficit up to the end of 2025-26, helping to relieve the financial pressures created by that historic expenditure.

“We are now assessing the implications in more detail. While it is too early to quantify the impact, this has the potential to make a significant difference to the council’s financial position through reducing the costs associated with financing the deficit.

“We welcome the government’s recognition of the work undertaken by Devon’s local area partnership and look forward to continuing our improvement journey.”