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Council bosses pledge to press government for fairer funding for North Yorkshire schools

Thursday, 2 January 2025 09:07

The North Yorkshire Council headquarters at County Hall in Northallerton.

North Yorkshire Council bosses have pledged to press the Government for a fairer funding deal for schools in the county.

The authority has warned that the county’s schools — particularly small, rural secondary schools — are facing a challenge to balance the books.

Senior councillors will meet next week to agree on funding levels for schools for the next financial year.

Council officers are recommending that funding levels are maintained for mainstream schools, which under the minimum funding guarantee would see their allocations protected.

However, the proposal would see around £2m transferred from the mainstream schools allocation to the high needs budget.

Officers estimate that despite this transfer the budget, which supports children with special educational needs and disabilities, would still have a deficit of £27m by March 2026.

The council is also proposing allocations of up to £50,000 for very small, rural secondary schools, which would otherwise be unable to attract sufficient funding to remain viable.

Stuart Carlton, the council’s corporate director for children and young people’s service, said in a report to members that the proposals would give schools the maximum amounts permitted within Department for Education guidelines.

He added:

“The funding outlook remains challenging for a number of schools – particularly small, rural secondary schools and special schools.

“The local authority continues to lobby for a fairer funding deal for schools in North Yorkshire, particularly those rural schools who cannot achieve the economies of scale of their more urban counterparts, whilst delivering a broad curriculum.”

Mr Carlton said the authority would continue to “support, challenge and, where necessary, intervene” in schools to ensure they provided a good quality education and were financially sustainable.

Julia Polley, headteacher at The Wensleydale School, a small secondary school in Leyburn, confirmed finances were a struggle:

“As a rural school, we face many challenges such as having a catchment area of 900 square miles.

“Budget is always a struggle. For example, as a rural school, small shifts in our year group numbers impact us greatly and also affect funding.”

The Department for Education said the October budget delivered on the Government’s commitment to put education “back at the forefront of national life”.

A spokesperson added:

“We are increasing school funding to almost £63.9 billion next year to help to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of all children, which includes extra funding to help small schools in rural areas.

“But we recognise the challenges that rural schools and local authorities are facing, following years of increasing pressure which has left the system unable to cope with the level of need from families.

“We are committed to working alongside schools and local authorities, including North Yorkshire Council, to ensure there is a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed to help children achieve and thrive as part of our plan for change.”

Members of the council’s executive committee will meet on Tuesday next week to agree the school funding formulas.

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