By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council is expected to run out money it set aside for emergencies in school services by April 2027.
The council’s School’s Forum met on Tuesday (December 10) to discuss the financial position of its education services and support for children with special educational needs.
The overall budget for schools, given as a grant by the government, in the 2023 to 2024 financial year was around £344 million – about £726,000 less than what was predicted.
The initial reserve for schools- meaning money set aside for schools to help cover unexpected costs or future expenses- in April 2023 was £21.7 million but this dropped to £19 million by March 2024.
The council is facing increased pressure in schools, with the number of pupils requiring special teaching, like those with special educational needs and those who have been permanently excluded, on the rise.
The anticipated reserves balance by the end of March 2026 is predicted to drop to £7.2 million and an eventual deficit of £425,000 is now forecast by the end of March 2027.
Sadrul Alam, Strategic Business Partner, said this predicted first-time deficit “is in line with the way local authority positions are nationally- Nottingham isn’t an outlier.”
Kerrie Fox, chair of the group, asked: “If the reserves are depleted and the current levels of growth in permanently-excluded continues, what service do these pupils access?
“What are the associated costs that’s in the alternative provision?”
Mr Alam responded that he “cannot pinpoint what the pressures will be” but said the council will have to make plans to combat depleting reserves from future grants and guidance it receives from the government.
Nick Lee, Director of Education Services, spoke of increased strain on specialist educational.
He said: “The level of complexity of need that we’re now seeing is requiring more specialist places which are more expensive and more pressure on mainstream to be able to meet those needs.”
He said that the city’s mainstream schooling is the key to its good management of funding for pupils with high needs.
He also added part of the council’s strategy is to increase specialist teaching within the city so that children are not sent to independent alternatives that are more expensive.
He added: “The [permanent] exclusions is an issue.
“We have spent more of a proportion of our [funding for higher needs] on alternative provision than we would ideally want to and in comparison with other local authorities that have lower rates of permanent exclusion.”
He said there are now higher rates of permanently-excluded primary children and that the council is looking into building a recovery plan for its financial issues within schooling, assessing its core commitments and cost-saving.
Mr Lee added the Government recognises the pressure on schools, and more money is expected to be designated for children with high needs and places in mainstream settings.
He added: “We have got time to put in a plan that will allow us to avert the deficit hitting.”
The School Forums working group will be assessing the ‘high needs recovery plan’, which aims to focus on the rising costs.
