A CASH-strapped council is launching a consultation into its 'high needs' budget for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

North Yorkshire County Council is facing challenging times due to unprecedented and increasing demand on its high needs budget.

There has been a 46 per cent increase in the number of Education, Health and Care Plans since 2014 when the reform was introduced – an increase not funded by central Government.

The authority has agreed to consult with families, staff and schools on proposals to reshape the high needs budget.

But it is under pressure to ensure the budget is spent in the most effective way possible.

North Yorkshire is ambitious for its children and young people’s service and judged by Ofsted to be outstanding across the board.

The proposals agreed this week for consultation are therefore designed to fulfil the long-term ambitions of the plan while relieving some of the pressure on the high needs budget with a saving of almost £2m.

The council, one of the lowest-funded authorities in England, has a high needs budget of £44.2m and is currently projecting financial pressures in the order of £3.9m.

This increased expenditure is predicted to keep rising in the near future.

“Supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities is one of the most important jobs that we do,” said Cllr Patrick Mulligan.

“We must always make sure that the needs of children and young people are met, and that we fulfil our statutory duties. But we must also explore every avenue to ensure that the resources we have are spent in the best way we can.”

The council has set out proposals for consultation which will change funding and provision for children and young people who have been excluded or who are at risk of exclusion; change funding for young people post-16 with special educational needs and change the way top-up funding for children with educational needs is allocated to schools.

The proposals will help bring about the council’s recently adopted strategic plan which will create enough places, more localised provision and a more inclusive mainstream culture.

“Our cost pressures are very grave due to chronic Government high needs underfunding from the Department for Education,” said Cllr Mulligan. “We are a responsible council that always tries to live within our budget but the Government has dealt us a poor hand that is not good enough for the children and young people of North Yorkshire. For this reason we continue to lobby Government to fully fund the high needs budget and have written to our MPs asking for their support.”