VULNERABLE youngsters with special educational needs and disabilities in Barnsley are being placed as far as 300 miles away in Plymouth due to a shortage of local provision, shock new figures have revealed.
A Freedom of Information request seen by the Chronicle shows that Barnsley Council spent more than £22m on out-of-borough placements in 2023/24 up from £12.1m in 2019/20.
The number of children sent outside the borough has also risen sharply over the same period, from 262 to 450.
Placements have ranged from nearby councils such as Sheffield and Wakefield to much further afield, with some children being sent to Plymouth a journey of more than five hours by car or around six hours by train.
Most of the costs went on placement fees £20.1m in 2023/24 but more than £2m was also spent on transport for children travelling to schools outside Barnsley.
The number of children identified with SEND has been rising across England but many councils, including Barnsley, say they do not have enough specialist provision to meet demand.
Coun Ashley Peace, cabinet spokesperson for children’s services, said: “Our ambition in Barnsley is for all children, wherever possible, to be educated in borough and we work alongside our education partners through the Barnsley Schools Alliance to meet need locally.
“All areas are facing significant increases in demand for specialist places and, dependent on need, we always seek to find a provider who meets that need.
“Unfortunately, those providers aren’t always close.
“We do everything we can to ensure that all safeguarding protocols are followed as the safety of children is of paramount importance to us.
“We’re working hard as part of our sufficiency strategy to secure more local places for our children and have created additional places over recent years, with plans underway to further expand provision.”
Barnsley is currently operating under an agreement with the Department for Education, aimed at tackling its high-needs deficit.
The deal commits the council to reducing reliance on costly independent and out-of-borough placements by creating more SEND provision locally and encouraging mainstream schools to be more inclusive.
In return, the government is providing more than £22m in additional funding between 2022 and 2027, with the aim of eliminating Barnsley’s cumulative deficit by 2026/27.
However, the council previously warned it anticipates a projected rise in children aged 16 and older requiring support, with places expected to balloon from 667 to 1,748 by 2028 an increase of 162 per cent.
Town hall bosses said the ‘longer-term increasing use of out-of-borough placements is not financially viable’.
A study by the Royal College of Phsychiatrists echoed the information and urged more to be done to address issues with youngsters being treated out of their area.
Deputy chair Dr Guy Northover added: “It is unacceptable that sick and extremely vulnerable children and young people with mental illness are still being sent miles away from their family and friends, sometimes for months on end, simply because they need treatment that is either not available as community care or within a local inpatient setting.
“Although we know that some improvements have been made compared to last year, these figures are still unacceptably high.
“One child being sent away from home almost every day is simply unacceptable.
“At a time when these children are having to cope with a mental illness, the last thing they need is to be left isolated, lonely and unsupported.
“It is also counter-productive as it will take longer for them to recover, lengthening their stay out of area and putting more pressure on overstretched services.
“This practice can also put parents and carers under immense pressure when they will already be overwhelmed with worry.”
