Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of each year that a person with complex SEND is NEET.

The independent Milburn Review’s interim report, ‘Young People and Work’, provides an estimate of the average lifetime cost to the state of £29,000 per year for each individual aged 18 to 24 who is not in education, employment or training (NEET). This is an estimate for the wider NEET population and is not specific to people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

However, the report states that young people with SEND are 80% more likely to be NEET. The government’s social research also indicates that having an Education Health and Care Plan during school years is the strongest single link to becoming NEET between the ages of 17 and 19.

The needs of individuals with SEND can vary greatly, but in 2015 the National Audit Office estimated that providing a young person with the skills to live in semi-independent rather than fully supported housing could reduce lifetime support costs by around £1 million, in addition to improving their quality of life.