“This government is committed to improving SEND provision,” Reeves told the House of Commons.

The funding will be released to councils by the Department for Education “from this year”, she added.

Documents released by the Treasury state that the funding, which will also be used to improve alternative education for provision (AP) for children not in mainstream school, will be "an important step in realising the government’s ambition to reform the system".

This suggests it will push forwards proposals made in the previous government's SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published in March last year.

The SEND funding comes amid a number of pledges impacting children and young people’s services announced by the Chancellor, backed by an increase of £6.7bn of capital investment for the Department for Education for 2025/26.

Despite warning that the government is facing a £22bn funding blackhole inherited from its predecessors, Reeves highlighted a commitment to improving opportunities for children.

She said: “This government is giving our children and young people the opportunity that they deserve.”

Education

Alongside greater investment in SEND services, the first female chancellor announced a package of £2.1bn for school maintenance, including investing £1.4 billion to rebuild “crumbling” schools following the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) scandal which saw settings close in September last year due to structural concerns.

She has also recommitted to plans made in the Labour Party’s pre-election manifesto to introduce VAT on private schools fees from January 2025 and remove business rates relief for such settings later next year.

However, the Budget document confirms that "to support pupils with special educational needs that can only be met in a private school, local authorities and devolved governments that fund these places will be compensated for the VAT they are charged on those pupils’ fees."

Reeves also committed to “tripling investment in breakfast clubs, increasing the core schools budget by £2.3bn next year for teacher recruitment and investing £300m for further education”.

A Get Britain Working white paper, set to be published “shortly”, will also share plans for a £240mn investment in 16 trailblazer projects in areas where young people are most at risk of being NEET (not in employment, education or training) in a bid to reduce unemployment in the UK, she added.

Early years

Ahead of the Budget, Reeves also pledged £1.8bn to fund the roll-out of the previous government’s childcare expansion programme which will see eligible children aged nine months and above receive 30 hours of funded early years entitlement from September next year.

As part of DfE's funding settlement for 2025/26, £69mn has been pledged to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs.

Local authority funding

Funding for public services via local authorities was also a focus of Reeves’s speech.

The Chancellor promised a real terms funding increase for local government next year amounting to £1.3bn for public services with £300mn for social care.

However, it is not clear how much of this fund will be ringfenced for children’s social care.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, prior to the Budget, Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to “work hand-in-hand with councils, including multi-year funding commitments” to stabilise local government finances which has been long called-for by children's services leaders, although it was not clear which areas of councils work this will apply to.

Social care

The Budget document states that "the government will provide over £25mn in 2025/26 to continue to test innovative measures to support children and reduce costs for local authorities" this will include a £44mn package to trial additional support for foster and kinship carers.

Reeves has pledged to fund a trial of new kinship allowance in up to 10 local authorities and recruit more foster carers by ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub.

It is expected that additional funding to support children's social care reforms put forward in the government's response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care will be announced during next year's Spending Review.

"The government will set out plans for fundamental reform of the children’s social care system in Phase 2 of the Spending Review, including promoting early intervention to help children stay with their families where possible, and fixing the broken care market," the Budget document states.

Tackling child poverty

The government has previously committed to working to reduce child poverty with the launch of a child poverty taskforce led by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.

Reeves used her budget to announce a new fair repayment rate that will reduce the level of debt repayments that can be taken from a household’s Universal Credit payment each month, reducing it from 25% to 15% of their standard allowance.

She said this will help 1.2 million of the poorest households, “who will be able to keep more of their award each month”.

Elsewhere, the National Minimum Wage will rise for people aged between 18 and 20-years old from £8.60 to £10 and apprentices will see an hourly pay increase from £6.40 to £7.55.

The government will also extend the household support fund beyond April 2025 to support struggling families, the Chancellor announced. 

By Fiona Simpson