Published on Wednesday 26 November 2025
Councillor Mike Cox, BCP Council Deputy Leader and Finance Portfolio Holder responds to today’s Autumn Budget statement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves:
“We have been open and transparent about our challenging financial environment. Years of austerity, increasing demand for our services and the inflation-driven rise in cost of delivery mean that we, and councils around the country, are having to make difficult decisions every year.
“This budget is not one that puts residents first or supports councils to deliver vital services.
“In particular, the cost of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) support is an increasing and unsustainable pressure on the council’s budget that puts the financial viability of the whole council at risk.
“I am therefore extremely disappointed that this crisis has not been properly addressed – or even mentioned by the Chancellor in her speech today – with the government having already delayed the much-needed reform from this autumn until next year.
“While the Office for Budget Responsibility has recognised the government’s intention to move the SEND debt from Council books to its own departmental budgets in 2028/29, this does not solve the fundamental issues at the heart of this crisis. It also still relies on councils continuing to fund an unsustainable service for the next two years. In the meantime, this creates immense pressure on our budget, and ultimately affects the services we offer our residents of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
“Today was a missed opportunity to immediately return the SEND system to financial sustainability.
“We have been highlighting this issue with government and calling for complete reform of the system for years, most recently with a letter to the Secretaries of State for the Department of Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
“As a council, we provide everything from caring for vulnerable adults and children, to collecting our residents’ and businesses’ bins, supplying safe and welcoming homes, looking after our beautiful beaches and natural habitats, and much more. We know our residents want us to prioritise our Adults and Children’s Services, and they also want our towns to be clean, safe, welcoming.
“We’re increasingly having to focus on the services we must provide by law, rather than those our residents want to see. For example, community support isn’t statutory, nor is economic development or supporting culture and yet these are things that make our people and places thrive – and are much valued by residents.
“We need government to recognise the immense good that councils do and fund us accordingly so that we can build sustainable financial footing, plan for the long term and deliver for our residents, businesses and visitors.”
- BCP Council’s letter to the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government can be found here.
- Central government pays the council to deliver SEND services, but the funding provided falls short of the actual cost while the number of those needing support increases. The Council currently uses its own funds to pay for the service while the government comes up with a long-term solution to this national problem, leaving it with less money available to spend on other services.