If you have a child with special educational needs in Kingston upon Thames, you are already familiar with the waiting, the form-filling, and the feeling that the system is running to catch up with itself. The numbers behind that feeling are now stark.
Kingston's Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block — the ring-fenced pot of government money that funds support for children with complex needs — is projected to overspend by £13.1 million in 2025/26 alone. The cumulative deficit has reached £20.93 million. That is not a rounding error. That is a structural crisis, and it affects real children in Kingston classrooms right now.
The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is funding passed from central government to local authorities for education. It is split into several blocks; the High Needs Block is the portion specifically allocated to support children and young people aged 0–25 with the most complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
This covers everything from specialist school placements — which can cost tens of thousands of pounds per pupil per year — to the Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) that legally entitle children to specific support. When the High Needs Block runs dry, councils do not simply shrug and move on. They are still legally obliged to fund those EHCPs. The money has to come from somewhere.
The short answer is demand. The number of children in Kingston with an EHCP has been rising — a trend seen across England, not unique to this borough. More children are being identified with needs that were previously undiagnosed or unsupported. Autism, speech and language difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs: the referral pipeline has grown significantly in the years since the pandemic.
Each new EHCP is a legal commitment. Kingston cannot simply cap the number of plans it issues without breaching its statutory duties. And as the number of plans rises, so does the cost — particularly when children require placements in independent special schools, which charge fees the local authority has limited power to negotiate down.
The result is a deficit that compounds year on year. The £20.93 million cumulative figure reflects years of spending more than the government allocation, not one reckless year of decisions.
This is the question parents deserve a straight answer to — and the honest answer is: pressure in the system is real, and families are already feeling it.
EHCP waiting times are a known pain point. Legally, local authorities must complete an EHC needs assessment and issue a plan within 20 weeks of a request being received. In practice, many families in Kingston and across London report this timeline being missed. Kingston Council has not, to date, published granular real-time data on its own compliance rates in an easily accessible format — which is itself a transparency gap worth noting.
Placement decisions become more fraught when budgets are under pressure. Families sometimes find themselves fighting for the provision their child's EHCP legally mandates, particularly when that provision involves costly specialist settings. A deficit of £20.93 million does not make those conversations easier.
Staffing and capacity in the SEND team also matters. Assessment and review processes depend on having enough qualified professionals. Whether Kingston's SEND team is adequately resourced relative to its caseload is a question the council should be answering publicly and regularly.
The government's Every Child Achieving and Thriving White Paper, published in 2025, sets out plans to reform the SEND system in England. The ambition is significant: earlier identification of needs, more support delivered in mainstream schools, a reduction in the reliance on costly specialist placements, and a reformed EHCP process.
In theory, this should eventually reduce the financial pressure on High Needs Blocks. More early intervention in mainstream settings is cheaper than late-stage specialist placements. The government has also signalled additional capital investment in specialist school places to reduce the dependence on independent providers.
In practice, families should be cautious about when any of this translates into tangible change. White papers take years to legislate and implement. Kingston's deficit is a problem right now. Any relief from national reform is, at best, a medium-term prospect.
There is also a legitimate question about whether a shift toward mainstream inclusion is delivered with genuine resources and training, or simply becomes a cost-cutting exercise dressed in progressive language. Parents and advocates have raised exactly this concern in response to the White Paper's consultation.
It would be wrong to look at Kingston's SEND deficit in isolation. The council is navigating a broader financial squeeze. The Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2026–2030 projects a £18 million budget gap over four years. Council reserves stand at £14.2 million — a figure that underlines how little cushion there is if things go wrong.
Council tax for 2026/27 has risen to a total Band D bill of £2,608.12 per year — up £119.77 (4.99%) on the previous year's total of £2,488.35. Residents are paying more. The question is whether that money is being directed effectively, and whether the people making those decisions can demonstrate it.
The DSG is technically ring-fenced — councils cannot simply raid it to plug other holes, nor can they easily use general council funds to top up a DSG deficit without government agreement. This accounting separation makes the High Needs Block crisis visible but also means the tools for fixing it are limited at local level.
Fair scrutiny means asking specific questions, not just expressing general concern. Here is what residents — particularly parents in the SEND system — should be pressing councillors on:
With full council elections scheduled for 7 May 2026 across all 19 Kingston wards, every one of the council's 48 councillors will be seeking your vote. This is precisely the moment to demand answers.
If your child is in the SEND system or you are waiting for an assessment, document everything. Keep records of every communication, every deadline, and every promise made. Know your legal rights — the 20-week EHCP timeline is not a target, it is a statutory duty.
If you believe Kingston is failing to meet its obligations, you have the right to escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. You do not have to accept delays as inevitable.
And if you want to push for systemic change — not just for your child, but for every family in Kingston navigating this system — use your voice where it counts.
Message your Kingston councillor directly through Council Clarity. Ask them where they stand on the SEND deficit, what their plan is for reducing waiting times, and how they will hold the council executive to account on behalf of families. Elections are coming. Make sure they know you are watching.
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