Northamptonshire schools funding deficits to reach £90 million
West and North Northants Councils are both predicting large overspends on their schools' funding, which is expected to reach a joint deficit of £90m by March 2026.
Local education authorities across Northamptonshire are both predicting large overspends on their schools’ funding, which is expected to reach a joint cumulative deficit of £90m by March next year.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said it was forecasting a £31.1m overspend against its Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2025/26, while North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) is predicting an £18.6m overspend in the same period.
Both Reform UK-run councils have said the unprecedented costs are a result of a continued increase in demand and rising costs of provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
DSG funding is ringfenced for spending solely on schools and education. Budget overspends in school reserves are kept off local councils’ balance sheets due to a temporary statutory override, which allows them to maintain negative balances.
However, local authority officers have noted that where there is a deficit, this will have an adverse impact on the council’s cashflow position and will impact on the resources available for investment.
For West Northamptonshire, its DSG overspend brought forward from previous years is £21.5m, resulting in an estimated £53m deficit when this year’s forecast is added.
In North Northants, the total deficit by the end of 2025/26 is expected to be £40m, due to its £21.3m overspend from previous financial years.
Since WNC was formed in 2021, it has seen a 70 per cent increase in children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). NNC says the number of children who have an EHCP and are attending a mainstream setting has doubled over the last three years.
West Northants also remains in the bottom quartile in terms of the high needs block funding per pupil received across all local authorities nationally.
Speaking at a schools forum meeting on Tuesday (October 14), WNC Assistant Director of Education Ben Pearson said: “We are certainly not an outlier in terms of really high overspends at the moment. We are right in the middle of an increase in demand, an increase in complexity and cost.
“We are continuing to lobby for West Northants and the entire sector to get fair and equitable funding for all local authorities. A child just over the border in Buckinghamshire receives 60 per cent more funding than a child in West Northants with an EHCP.
“That is not fair, that is morally wrong, and I’m really hopeful that is going to be addressed through the government’s education white paper.”
James Birkett, chair of the North Northants schools forum, which met on Thursday (October 16), also commented: “Who knows what the white paper will bring, but I suspect there’s recognition from the DfE and all stakeholders actually that the current position in SEND is not just unsustainable for NNC, but right across the country.”
Local authorities across England are expected to carry a massive £5bn SEND deficit by the end of this financial year.