A primary school headteacher has said he fears Labour’s Budget will worsen the “catastrophe” facing schools struggling to support growing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
John Hayes, headteacher at Gospel Oak Primary in Camden, London, told The i Paper the “exhausting” pressures caused by stretched budgets and growing numbers of SEND pupils have caused him to retire early next year.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned last week’s Budget could cause funding for SEND provision to fall in real terms, as Labour plans to absorb these costs into existing central government budgets.
The Department for Education has disputed this, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson contacting MPs to claim confusion was being spread by the Conservative Party.
The department told The i Paper: “This claim is incorrect – we are clear that any deficit will be absorbed within the overall government budget. These projections also do not account for the much-needed SEND reforms this government will bring forward.”
The Government faces a £6bn shortfall on this funding in 2028/29, and the OBR initially said this could lead to a 1.7 per cent real-terms cut in the schools budget rather than the planned 2.4 per cent increase.
A later OBR briefing revised this real terms fall to 4.9 per cent per pupil, rather than the 0.5 per cent increase it says was planned by Government.
SHOTS FIRED:Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, accuses the OBR of being 'misleading' after it said that SEND costs could lead to a 4.9% cut in mainstream school spending, @matilda__martin at PoliticsHome revealsShe told Labour MPs on Whatsapp: 'Any future SEND costs…
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) November 27, 2025A Labour MP told The i Paper backbenchers are “hanging by a thread” as they wait to see how the Government addresses the projected shortfall, with a rebellion on the cards.
Budget could worsen schooling ‘catastrophe’
Mr Hayes said the current Budget shortages facing his primary school are affecti ng all aspects of its education and warned a fall in real-terms spending would only make things worse.
He said: “Any fall in funding is just going to perpetuate the catastrophe that we’re working through, because it’s quite horrific what’s going on. And it isn’t just around SEND, it’s the fact that school budgets are not keeping up with costs of staff, pay rises and resources.
“The only way to balance [the budget] is to lose staff […] and it will be support staff, so you’re losing the very people who you’re expecting to do all that support work for your high-needs children. It just can’t be done.”
Mr Hayes said the Government is “hiding behind the word ‘inclusion’” as it pushes for children with educational needs to remain in mainstream schools, because there are not enough specialist school places elsewhere.
Schools are seeing an “astronomical” rise in the number of early-years SEND children, meaning schools and councils are struggling to provide funding.
Councils are struggling to meet the costs of SEND provision, with almost half of local authorities polled in a recent report expecting to exceed their budget to meet the needs of children aged three and four.
Madeleine Cassidy, chief executive of IPSEA, a leading charity in the field of SEND law, raised concerns over whether SEND provision will be sufficiently protected if absorbed into central Government spending.
square EDUCATION Every state school child faces funding cut to pay for SEND provision
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She said: “If centralisation simply means folding SEND budgets into the wider education pot, without ring-fencing or no growth funding, then SEND provision and the legal rights of children with SEND risk being diminished in this budget.”
Mr Hayes said: “I’ve got children moving through key stage one from early years still in nappies, so we’ve had to have a hygiene room built in the key stage one building for changing children, which we’ve never had to have before.”
While he felt optimistic about the change of government last year, Mr Hayes said Labour have failed to “demonstrate that they properly understand the depth of the problem” facing schools.
Government spending on SEND provision will hit £12bn this year, the BBC reports, having risen by 66 per cent in the last decade.
SEND reforms introduced by the Conservatives in 2014 led to an “increase in demand” of statutory support which has contributed to “huge funding pressures” on local authorities, a former education secretary has admitted.
Mr Hayes said the Department of Education has “ludicrous expectations” for schools to deal with a new Ofsted framework and an overhauled curriculum at a time when teachers are “under the greatest pressure”.
‘We’re failing our pupils’
Mr Hayes, who has more than 40 years of classroom experience, says he is going to retire early next year, aged 60, because of the emotional toll caused by the school funding crisis.
He said: “This job has got more and more difficult year on year. This is now the most difficult period to work in a state primary school, and certainly to be the leader in one.
“We’re failing them, and that’s the emotional toll it takes on teachers, head teachers – having to face parents who are desperate for their child to succeed. It’s just too much.”
Labour to overhaul SEND system
The OBR’s warning over SEND funding comes as the Government prepares its overhaul of the system, with delayed reforms due to be unveiled in the new year.
The Schools White Paper, initially due to be published in the spring, is expected to include a significant shake-up to the SEND system.
The reforms could see education, health and care plans (EHCPs) taken away from thousands of children, if they are made available only to either pupils in specialist schools or children with complex needs.
EHCPs are the important legal documents that describe a child’s individual needs in school and unlock council funding.
Other possible reforms include lowering the highest age at which people can claim an EHCP, which is currently 25.
The Government could also tighten the criteria for SEND diagnoses, as campaigners call for a shift away from categories and towards a focus on children’s individual needs.
Labour MPs have told The i Paper the Government could be on a collision course with backbenchers if its changes are seen to cut support for vulnerable children.
A government source has insisted that there would not be any cuts to SEND funding, with investment set to rise over the course of the parliament, The i Paper reported.
They said it is hoped that the reforms will naturally bring down deficits by making the system more efficient, but if that is not the case, the excess will be found in existing central government spending limits.
But with the OBR now expecting a 14 per cent rise in SEND spending in real terms this year alone, it is unclear where the money needed for major investment in the SEND system will come from.
The OBR was thrown into chaos last week when its assessment of the Budget was accidentally published just before Chancellor Rachel Reeves was due to speak in Parliament.
Speaking to Sky on Sunday morning, Reeves refused to back OBR chief Richard Hughes and said the leak was “clearly a serious breach of protocol”.
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Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said they will consider balloting for strike action if the Government does not change course: “We must – and we will – save our schools.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We inherited a SEND system on its knees and our changes will make sure children get support at the earliest stage, while bringing about financial sustainability for councils.
“We will continue engaging with parents, teachers and local authorities and will set out our full plans to reform the system through the Schools White Paper early next year.”
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