Blog

Jun 14, 2023

Safety Valve agreement

We have agreed a proposal by the Department for Education (DfE) to enter into a Safety Valve agreement. As part of this agreement, we successfully negotiated a £140 million contribution from the DfE

We have agreed a proposal by the Department for Education (DfE) to enter into a Safety Valve agreement.

As part of this agreement, we successfully negotiated a £140 million contribution from the DfE towards eliminating the cumulative deficit arising from existing and forecast overspends on high needs funding for schools for children and young people identified as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Under the agreement, we will control and reduce the cumulative deficit over the next five years by contributing a further £82 million.

This will mean Kent’s SEND services will be protected from cuts to repay the overspends that have accumulated.

The agreement allows us to continue our focus on improving SEND services within the money available.

By entering into the Safety Valve agreement with the DfE, we will be putting in place a range of measures to make sure appropriate provision is available. These include:

Some of the above is linked to developments in sufficiency and capacity of provision and KCC successfully bid for High Needs Capital funding for two new Special Free Schools in Swanley and Whitstable. A third bid for a special school in Sheppey was unsuccessful. Further detail from the DfE is expected in due course.

Read the full agreement.