High needs funding

High needs funding is intended to provide the most appropriate support package for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in a range of settings, taking account of parental and student choice.

High Needs Panel funding in West Northamptonshire

Schools High Needs Funding

See how to apply for school high needs funding in West Northamptonshire.

Early Years High Needs funding

See how to apply for early years high needs funding in West Northamptonshire.

High needs panel funding in North Northamptonshire

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has implemented a new approach to supporting High Needs in line with decisions made by the NNC School’s Forum. To support transition to the new arrangements, existing funding agreements will be extended until end of August 2022. For further information please contact the Education and Health Care Plan Team or Early Years Funding Team as appropriate.

High Needs Funding in North Northants will be known as Early Help Locality Funding from September. An online application form is in development and will be made available as soon as possible. Panel dates for the academic year 2022/2023 will be published with the online form link. This should be used for students living in the North Northants area.  

Further guidance

Continuation forms have been issued to all schools currently receiving High Needs Panel funding. These were sent to the email address on the application form. If you have not received this from us please contact West Northants High Needs funding team on highneedsfunding.ncc@westnorthants.gov.uk and for any enquiries about continuation of funding. 

​The document below fulfils a Department for Education requirement for each local authority to explain the special educational needs provision it expects to be made from within a mainstream school's budget share. It clearly explains the provision for pupils from early years settings and schools and will form part of the local authority Local Offer.

The document should be used as required to inform good practice and support effective provision for pupils with special educational needs.

The creation of the Unitary authorities has resulted in additional cross border pupils ie a child with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who lives in, and is the funding responsibility of, their 'home' authority, but goes to a school in another authority.

The arrangement for schools to be paid for SEN support for such EHCP pupils, is that the agreed funding is recharged via invoice/s raised by the school to the funding authority - this process is already in place for existing neighbouring authorities.

For the first year of the new Unitary organisations, to support schools, each new authority made the payments automatically on behalf of its schools, for cross border pupils.

From April 2022, it will be necessary for schools themselves to invoice the relevant funding authority for agreed SEN support funding. This will now therefore include, where appropriate, pupils from North or West Northamptonshire Councils. This arrangement applies to mainstream schools (maintained and academy), special schools, unit provisions and early years settings.

Where schools have pupils from another authority without an Education Health and Care Plan but agreed Schools' High Needs Panel funding, they will again need to invoice the funding authority direct.

Invoices will need to be addressed as below:

North Northamptonshire Council
Bowling Green Road
Kettering
Northants 
NN15 7QX

You will not require a purchase order number, but invoices must be emailed to:

North Northamptonshire

Highneedsfunding.ncc@northnorthants.gov.uk

Please provide invoices on a termly basis (to support cash flow, we are able to accept invoices in advance), so this will usually be the annual amount agreed divided by three terms (except where one-off amount etc.)

Please provide full backing information to support the claim - pupil name and date of birth, funding level (RAS or EHCP level), special arrangement funding detail and period of claim.

For some children and young people (for example those who are 'looked after'), it can be difficult to establish which authority is financially responsible for funding their SEN top up. If you require assistance to clarify, or if you have any other query, please contact the appropriate High Needs business support Team.