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Eight in 10 of the English councils responsible for education that responded to a survey have warned they face bankruptcy without a multibillion-pound bailout from the government for special needs spending.

Local authorities have said they cannot afford to pay debts totalling £14bn from years of overspends on special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision and urged ministers to step in to cover deficits.

The plea illustrates the financial dilemma facing the government as it attempts to overhaul an increasingly expensive special needs system without provoking a backlash over accusations of cost-cutting at the expense of disabled children.

A survey of councils by the Local Government Association found that 69 of the 87 that responded — 79 per cent — said they would not be able to set a balanced budget when the current statutory override, which allows them to ignore overspend on Send, ends in 2028. Only seven, or 8 per cent, said they would while the remaining councils indicated they were not sure.

There are 153 upper-tier councils in England, which have responsibility for education spending. Eighty-three, or 95 per cent, of those that responded said they had overspent their Send budget in this financial year. Seventy-seven councils warned they would continue to overspend in 2028-29 if the system was not reformed by then, although only 82 responded to that question.

Ministers are preparing to set out reforms later this month that would restrict children’s legal entitlement to specialist help as they seek to improve mainstream schools’ support for pupils with special educational needs. However, central elements have been pushed back to the next parliament as ministers seek to defuse anger among parent campaigners and concern among Labour backbenchers.

The delay means the government will need to find a way to pay for overspends estimated at £6bn from April 2028 as it takes on responsibility for funding the system from local authorities. Spending on special needs education has more than doubled to £12bn in 2023-24 and is estimated to rise 13 per cent in real terms this financial year, as increasing numbers of pupils are on education, health and care plans that entitle them to extra help, such as one-to-one classroom support or a place in a special needs school.

As a result of such pressures, councils have been overspending their special needs budgets, with deficits rising from £200mn in 2020-21 to £2.5bn this financial year. Since 2020 ministers have used an emergency measure known as a statutory override to allow councils to ignore these overspends in their budgets.

When this mechanism comes to an end in 2028, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates cumulative overspends will have reached £14bn.

Amanda Hopgood, chair of the LGA’s Children, Young People & Families committee, said: “Under the current system, the rise in support need has left many councils buckling under the strain. The huge costs in providing support are threatening most councils with insolvency.”

She urged ministers to “write off councils’ high-needs deficits” in a funding deal for councils due to be finalised next week.

Luke Sibieta of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, said it was clear the government would cover some of the deficits “but they haven’t been clear on how much or how — they keep kicking the can down the road”.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was approached for comment.