More than one in ten councils are having to submit to closer government monitoring of their school finances as falling pupil numbers, spiralling costs and the SEND funding crisis devastate balance sheets.
In 2020, the government announced new measures to tackle financial mismanagement in maintained schools. They included the power to demand “high-level” action plans from councils with a certain proportion of schools in deficit.
Data obtained by Schools Week shows 11 councils submitted a plan in the 2021-22 academic year; 15 in 2022-23. This year, 17 councils submitted plans before term even began – most of them in deprived areas.
This year, councils were asked to submit action plans if more than 10 per cent of their schools had a deficit of more than 5 per cent. In 2021-22, the Education and Skills Funding Agency set the deficit threshold at 10 per cent. In 2022-23 it was 7 per cent.
