CHILDREN with special needs could be sent outside the county because funding might not keep up with demand, council leaders have warned.

Oxfordshire County Council said a “baby boom” will see pupils with special needs rise 31 per cent between 2011 and 2026.

But council officer said there is a risk there may not be enough funding to cater for them in time.

Director for children’s services Jim Leivers wrote: “This could result in increasing reliance on out-county provision where placement costs and additional transport or residential provision may be needed.”

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He said there had been an above-average increase in annual births as well as a rise in international migration.

The number of children in special schools had risen from 795 in 2007 to 927 in 2014, his report said.

Gillian Stickings from Risinghurst, whose daughter Judith, 11 has a form of cerebral palsy, said special needs education is “incredibly important”.

Her daughter has hemiplegia from brain damage at birth and attends John Watson School in Wheatley, a special school.

Mrs Stickings, 41, said: “The benefit for Judith from going to a special school has almost been beyond words. They are incredibly important.

“If she had gone into a mainstream school aged five, she would not have even been able to speak, because that is something she did not do until she was age six. She is bright but has struggled with her whole school career and some of her special requirements would not be picked up in a mainstream school.

“I recognise that the council will be under economic pressures at the moment, but these schools deliver what vulnerable children need. They are an outstanding part of our society and so are their staff. We should be shouting their value to the rooftops.”

County council education scrutiny committee member John Howson said: “When numbers are going up, we need more funding and that is something officers will have to negotiate with Whitehall.

“If we do not have places in our schools we will have to buy places in other areas.”

Special schools are funded through levies on developments using a calculation that assumes about one per cent of county pupils attend them.

The council said areas where large increases in housebuilding are planned, such as Banbury, Bicester and Didcot, would likely see more spending on special schools.

Officers said 70 more places were expected in Banbury over the next 10 years.

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