03/06/2026
📚 SEND in Kent: where things stand, and what we are doing about it
Here is where special educational needs support in Kent stands, and what Reform UK's administration at Kent County Council (KCC) is doing about it. The system is under real strain, most of the causes sit with national government, and the Reform-run council is getting on with the parts it can control.
🏛️ First and foremost, this is a national problem
The Children and Families Act 2014 created Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and demand has risen by around 140% across England since then, to nearly 640,000 plans. National funding has not kept pace, and the National Audit Office warned in 2024 that the cost was becoming financially unsustainable. The government published its Schools White Paper in February 2026, but the substantive changes to EHCPs will not take effect until 2029 or 2030, and the largest funding increases are not due until 2028-29. Councils are expected to prepare now, on tight budgets. The reforms promise easier access to specialists such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, while there is a national shortage of exactly those staff.
🧱 What the council is building now
Kent is expanding specialist places so more children can be supported close to home rather than sent miles out of county. Recent council investment includes £20m creating 889 new specialist resource places in mainstream schools, expansions at Parkwood Hall in Swanley and Broomhill Bank, and two new special schools confirmed for Swanley and Whitstable through a government capital programme that the Reform-run council has chosen to push ahead with. More local provision is better for children, and it brings down the high out-of-county placement costs that built up over years.
✅ Performance is strong, and holding
Kent now completes close to 90% of EHCP assessments within the 20-week legal deadline, against a national average of 46%. That performance has held since Reform UK took control of the council in May 2025, alongside a serious effort to bring KCC's finances back under control.
🗂️ Honest about where Kent has been
This is not a clean record. Kent's SEND service was placed under a government Improvement Notice in 2023, under the previous Conservative administration, and it was lifted in 2024 after the service was turned round. Kent had run up a SEND overspend of £97m by 2021-22 and spent more than comparable councils, partly through heavy use of costly independent placements. The schools high needs budget is still forecast to be more than £136m in deficit by March 2026. The job now is to fix that without failing the children who depend on the system.
🚐 Post-16 transport, explained properly
After 16 there is no automatic right to free transport, even with an EHCP. That is national law, not a Kent rule. Within that, Kent County Council's standard offer is the 16+ Travel Saver bus pass, and the council is investing in independent travel training to help more young people travel confidently on their own, which builds real independence. For young people who genuinely cannot manage public transport, support continues, decided case by case and including exceptional cases, with a clear right of appeal. This is a tighter offer than Kent used to provide, because finite money has to be focused on those who need it most and on protecting the support the law requires. If your child needs more than the standard offer, apply, and appeal if you are refused.
👍 If this affects your family, do:
- Apply for the support your child needs, and appeal if it is refused. The panel exists for exactly these cases.
- Get free, independent advice from IASK before you appeal.
- Tell KCC straight away if you move house. Transport is assessed on your home address.
- Contact me if you live in my division and need a hand.
👎 Don't:
- Treat a refusal as the final word.
- Assume a standard bus pass is your only option if it does not suit your child.
🔗 Useful links
- Kent SEND Information Hub (the Local Offer): https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs
- Post-16 transport policy: https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/strategies-and-policies/service-specific-policies/education-policies/post-16-transport-policies
- What the SEND reforms mean for parents (gov.uk): https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/05/schools-white-paper-what-parents-need-to-know-about-changes-to-the-send-system/
- IASK, free and impartial SEND advice: 03000 41 3000 or [email protected]
Changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system have been announced, as part of the schools white paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving.
