Cash-strapped councils have been given government permission to circumvent laws requiring minimum funding levels in schools so they can divert cash to cover gaping SEND deficits.
Since 2020 local authorities have had to follow national minimum per-pupil funding levels (MPPFLs). This financial year, the rates are £4,160 for primary pupils and £5,995 for secondary.
Minimum funding levels were a manifesto commitment under the Conservatives. But government documents show Kent, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), “gained approval to set a lower value” this year.
Kent was granted a similar request last year.
‘A dangerous precedent’
Andrew O’Neill, a member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, said the move “sets a highly dangerous precedent”.
“It’s really indicative of the corner that councils have been backed into. It’s a massive concern, because all you’re doing is slushing not enough money around the same system.”
The requests are linked to decisions to transfer money from core schools funding to the high-needs budget.
Kent transferred 1.2 per cent – or £15.2 million – this year, while BCP moved 0.5 per cent, £1.3 million.
Such transfers are common. More than 20 councils had requests to transfer £67 million rubber-stamped this year.
But until recently the transfers had not affected minimum funding levels.
The Department for Education said it rubber-stamped the deals for both councils “in the context of their safety-valve agreement”.
Safety-valve deals involve government bailouts in exchange for efforts to bring down SEND spending. Kent has one, but BCP’s bid for a 15-year agreement was rejected this year.
Nevertheless, BCP, which predicts its dedicated schools grant deficit will balloon from £63 million this year to £108 million next spring, went ahead with a 0.45 per cent cut to minimum per pupil funding levels.
DfE and LA ‘complicit in damaging life chances’
The move has particularly affected the area’s grammar schools, more likely to be funded at minimum levels because they don’t attract as much disadvantage funding.
Dr Dorian Lewis, head of Bournemouth School, said he now gets £27 less per pupil than the minimum funding level, or about “£25,000 less” overall.
The decision was also made outside of the council’s schools forum, where schools would have a say.
“It appears that ministers in allowing the transfer of funds from schools’ budgets are complicit with the local authority in damaging our students’ life chances,” he said.
In council documents, BCP pointed to a growth in school reserves from £13.9 million in 2019, to £37.6 million.
The council also plans to double the amount it transfers from schools next year too.
“The thing for me that really irks is that they’re now saying, ‘well, you can afford it because you’ve got a reserve’,” Lewis said.
“And actually, we’ve built that reserve up over time to fulfil capital projects, because that’s the only way we get that money available.
“It’s almost like, ‘well, you’ve managed your budget…you put money aside, you’ve been prudent. But now that’s our excuse now for trying to take money away from you’.”
‘Deeply concerned’
David Sims, head of Bournemouth School for Girls, said his budget had lost about £27,000, “equivalent to half an experienced teacher, the refurbishment of a couple of computer rooms or the provision of significant pastoral/learning support”.
“Whilst I am of course mindful of the importance of the need for effective provision for the area’s SEND children, I am deeply concerned that our pupils should be funded below the MPPFL.”
Keziah Featherstone, co-chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, said extra SEND funding was “without a shadow of a doubt” needed, but “every single school also needs a minimum amount of funding per pupil”.
“That is more critical than ever now. It just feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Last year, Kent reduced minimum per-pupil funding rates by 0.5 per cent to move money to its high-needs budget. This year it reduced the rate by 0.9 per cent. The council has a near £200 million SEND budget deficit.
Seamus Murphy, the chief executive of the Kent-based Turner Schools, warned that schools that were not inclusive could claim they did not have the resources to meet need and “further exacerbate the crisis in provision for children with SEND”.
A Kent spokesperson said the changes were approved by its schools forum with 83 per cent support, and the move “does not impact on the viability of any schools”.
