Councils are signing off on more deficits in their primary schools’ budgets as funding woes continue to plague the sector.
Local authorities are allowed to approve “licensed deficits” for schools that cannot find any more savings.
It allows them to continue running a deficit for a fixed period while working towards a balanced budget, with the gap initially plugged with surpluses from other schools.
Last week Brighton and Hove Council wrote to the headteachers of 35 schools that could not set balanced budgets for 2023-24, asking them to reduce their planned deficits by 10 per cent. It warned that licensed deficits for next year would total £5 million.
