Sutton Council has joined national calls urging education secretary Damian Hinds to help tackle funding problems for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Authorities in London and across the country want both an urgent cash injection and a review of the 2014 Children and Families Act.

This is due to many being in “real difficulty” financially and fears current Government plans in place are not enough.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans, which describe the extra help given to children with SEND, have increased year-on-year since being introduced in 2014.

The latest Government figures show the number of statements and plans in place has risen by more than 11 per cent nationally since last January.

But there has been criticism over the amount of funding given to local authorities in being able to meet this continued rise.

A letter has been sent to Mr Hinds by the Society of London Treasurers and Society of County Treasurers demanding for help.

Sutton Council’s strategic director of resources Gerald Almeroth is the SLT’s president for London boroughs, having been appointed to the post in May this year.

It reads: “The majority of councils that we represent are in real difficulty, with many not only reporting in-year deficits of costs against allocated funding but also with deficits being carried forward on their balance sheets – with no prospect of these positions being improved.

“Much work is being done by all councils to jointly share ideas and best practice to try and minimise demand and costs, but this isn’t going to be anywhere near enough to recover the position.

“There is only limited scope for moving out of direct school budgets to help with the pressure, and in any case with many schools finding it difficult to cope with the new National Funding Formula this isn’t an ideal or sustainable situation.”

Roughly 88 percent of London councils are expecting deficits in their dedicated schools grant (DSG) high needs block this year, according to research by both societies, and all think they’ll be in the red next year.

The letter states many authorities are “already” carrying forward cumulative losses from last year and it’s expected to rise to nearly £250 million by the end of 2018.

It adds that “significant work” is being done to try and manage the rising demand but “this is not sustainable going forward” and is “rapidly creating a financial crisis in some councils.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our ambition for children with SEND is exactly the same for every other child – to achieve well in education, and go on to live happy and fulfilled lives. This is why we’ve introduced EHC plans, tailored to each individual, to ensure they are supported while they study.

“This financial year councils will receive almost £6 billion of funding for young people with more complex SEND – an increase from £5 billion in 2013.

“Nevertheless, we recognise that local authorities are facing pressures on their high needs budgets, so we are investigating why costs are increasing and looking at what more we can do to help.”