The government has been urged to take urgent action to help North Yorkshire Council fund the rising cost of providing education to children with special needs.
Councillor Janet Sanderson, executive member for children and families, told colleagues she was “shocked” to discover the council’s high needs education budget was forecast to have a deficit of £24m by the end of March this year.
A meeting of the executive committee at County Hall in Northallerton yesterday (Tuesday) heard the deficit could increase to £40m by the end of March 2027 if the current demand for high needs support continued.
The executive agreed to transfer 0.5 per cent of the general schools budget to the high needs budget to help fund services, although councillors were told this would not reduce the forecast deficit.
Commenting on the report, Cllr Sanderson said:
“These are shocking statistics.
“We’re told that government is going to address this, but it keeps getting put back and put back.
“This financial pressure is felt across the SEND system in North Yorkshire and represents an unsustainable position.
“Let’s be really clear here — this is not just about finance. It’s about doing the right thing for our most vulnerable children and we need urgent action from government.”
Deputy leader Gareth Dadd said there were indications from government that ministers were planning to clear existing SEND deficits and fund ongoing deficits
But he added:
“I’d just treat that with a little bit of caution.
“This is not going to, I don’t think, let this council off the hook. There will have to be incentives for us to do the right thing, not just by the children, but financially.
“They may well take with one hand and only give back partly with another.”
Approving the council’s plan for school funding for 2026,27, members agreed to continue providing an exceptional circumstance lump sum of £50,000 for very small secondary schools in rural areas, which would otherwise be unable to attract sufficient funding to remain viable.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the Department for Education for a response.
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