Ministers have rejected a council’s safety valve bailout proposal, claiming government could not “reasonably afford” it – but at the same time admitted the authority’s high needs deficit poses a “substantial risk” to its viability.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) had submitted a 15-year plan to get its £64 million high needs funding blackhole under control.
Under the government’s safety valve scheme, councils with large SEND deficits get multi-million pound bailouts in exchange for agreeing to sweeping cuts to get spending under control.
Most of the other 34 deals, which now total £1 billion, are between five and seven years.
