Save Our Schools

The Safety Valve Scandal: How Government Deals Are Failing Children, Schools, and Councils

Introduction

The government’s Safety Valve Agreements were sold as a lifeline for councils struggling with massive deficits in their High Needs Block — the funding that supports children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

But beneath the financial jargon lies a policy failure that has reshaped education budgets, forced impossible cuts, and left thousands of children without the support they need.

This is the story of how the DfE’s “solution” became a national crisis.

What Is a Safety Valve Agreement?

A Safety Valve Agreement is a contract between the Department for Education (DfE) and a local council with a large deficit in its High Needs Block.

In return for multi-million-pound bailout payments, the council must commit to reducing its deficit by cutting costs — often through:

  • Limiting growth in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
  • Reducing funding for mainstream inclusion
  • Reassessing top-up rates and placements

These agreements shift the financial burden away from Whitehall and onto local councils — and, ultimately, schools and families.

Which Councils Have Safety Valve Agreements?

Between 2020 and 2024, 38 councils in England entered Safety Valve deals, including:

Kent, Surrey, Barnsley, Croydon, Darlington, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kirklees, Salford, Torbay, York, and more.

Each deal is publicly available on GOV.UK’s Safety Valve Programme page.

But these agreements come with strict milestones and annual targets — and missing them can mean losing future funding.

Why the Government Has Stopped New Agreements

In 2024, the DfE announced that no new Safety Valve agreements would be created.

A commissioned report by ISOS Partnership concluded that one-off bailouts weren’t fixing the underlying issues in SEND funding. The government admitted it will instead focus on “wider system reform.”

This means the 38 councils already in agreements are locked in — without new funding or flexibility — while others receive no comparable support.

It’s a two-tier system with no long-term plan.

The Impact on Councils and Schools

Safety Valve money doesn’t go into classrooms. It goes straight into deficit repayment.

That means:

  • Reduced SEND services in mainstream schools
  • Fewer teaching assistants and specialist staff
  • Delays in EHCP assessments
  • Rising exclusion rates and appeals

According to the National Audit Office, there is “limited evidence that Safety Valve Agreements have improved outcomes for children.”

Meanwhile, the number of children with EHCPs continues to rise — from 240,000 in 2016 to over 550,000 by 2024.

The problem hasn’t gone away. It’s simply been hidden under financial targets.

The High Needs Block Deficit: Still Growing

Despite Safety Valve bailouts, the national High Needs deficit now exceeds £3 billion, according to the Local Government Association and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Some councils report “paper reductions,” but these often come from transferring funds or delaying support — not genuine improvements.

As the statutory override that shields councils from insolvency ends in 2026, many are warning of an impending financial collapse.

The Hidden Toll: School Closures and Mergers

Across multiple Safety Valve areas — including North Tyneside, Surrey, Kent, and Croydon — schools have faced closures, mergers, or reductions in SEND bases to meet DfE savings targets.

This has reduced local capacity and increased travel distances for families — directly contradicting the government’s own inclusion policies.

Local campaign groups are now fighting to protect community schools that have become collateral damage in the race to balance the books.

The Human Cost

Behind every deficit number is a child waiting for help.

A family told there’s “no funding left.”
A school forced to make cuts it doesn’t believe in.
A council caught between compassion and compliance.

The Safety Valve system has turned education into a financial exercise — where balancing a spreadsheet can mean denying a child their legal right to support.

What Needs to Change

To fix this broken system, campaigners and experts are calling for:

  1. A National Funding Reset – A unified, fair formula for SEND funding that reflects real need, not deficit history.
  2. Transparency – Publish full outcomes of all 38 Safety Valve councils, including EHCP rates and appeals.
  3. Protection for Children’s Rights – Funding rules must never override statutory SEND entitlements.
  4. Accountability – An independent inquiry into how the DfE’s deficit strategy has affected children and schools.

What You Can Do

If your council is part of a Safety Valve agreement — or facing a SEND deficit — you can take action:

  • Ask your MP: What is being done to ensure fair SEND funding in your area?
  • Submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request: Find out how EHCPs and SEND budgets have changed since the agreement began.
  • Join your local campaign: Contact your council’s SEND action group or parent forum.
  • Share this story: The more people know, the harder it is for these cuts to continue unnoticed.
  • Join the Campaign: Join the Save Our Schools Campaign

Together, we can demand transparency and justice for every child who has been failed by this broken funding system.

Sources and References

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