Cash-strapped councils falling behind on their SEND deficit bailout plans – just months after they were signed off – have now been placed under “enhanced” monitoring by ministers, Schools Week can reveal.
Cambridgeshire and Norfolk signed government “safety valve” agreements in March, where they got £119 million combined in bailouts to help balance their high needs deficits over five and seven years respectively.
But by September, both were already off track, which means they must submit revised plans and join the “enhanced monitoring and support (EMS)” scheme.
News of a higher tier of intervention in the scheme compounds concerns by campaigners that the bailouts, which come with strict cost-cutting demands and which are not enough to balance budgets.
