Most schools in West Berkshire forecasting budget deficits next year

Because the overall education budget in the district has such a large deficit, currently £2.1 million, West Berkshire Council will likely be forced to write to the government with its plans to cut costs. 

The situation is even starker the financial year after next, with 46 out of the 63 schools in West Berkshire warning they will have to spend more than they receive in income. That’s according to Melanie Ellis, the council’s chief accountant. 

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Keith Harvey, headteacher of St Nicolas C of E Junior school in Newbury, said he continues to worry about the ‘whole long-term situation’. Even if schools cut everything except the legal minimum, ‘the deficit would continue to rise’, he said. “Even with the additional money this year, the deficit has risen.” 

Schools get involved in how education funding is spent through a forum of headteachers, councillors, council staff and others. The schools forum in West Berkshire meets regularly, and Mr Harvey and Ms Ellis made the comments at the last meeting, on December 9. 

Ian Pearson, the council’s head of education, told the forum the deficit is continuing to grow, despite recent extra funding. He said: “By throwing money and getting the deficit down — while that is helpful trying to contain things — it’s not affecting the systemic problems that cause the deficit to grow.” 

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At the moment, the education budget in West Berkshire is in deficit of £2.1 million. The total yearly budget — the dedicated schools grant — is currently £131 million, and as the deficit is more than one per cent of this, West Berkshire Council will likely be forced to write to the government with plans to cut costs. 

All councils have to send a deficit recovery plan to the government if their deficit is more than one per cent of total education budget, listing the savings they plan to make to bring the deficit into balance within three years. 

Mr Pearson said: “Quite what we’re going to write in that plan remains to be seen.” 

One example of how funding cuts affect education in West Berkshire is school meals. The council is currently getting a new contractor for catering in schools across the district, but some headteachers have expressed concern about the price increases. 

Hilary Latimer, headteacher of Englefield Primary School, said: “It’s putting us in an impossible position, because chances are the bids that are going to come in are going to make our school meals too expensive. As a small school, we cannot fund school meals on top of everything else. 

“So it looks like we are probably going to have to lose our kitchen. Which then puts us in a less attractive position to prospective parents.”

Across the country, several other councils are facing similar budgets: 142, according to Mr Pearson. Catie Colston, chair of governors at Enborne primary school, asked: “So what happens then? With 142 authorities that are in deficit, what ultimately happens?”

Bruce Steiner, chairman of the schools forum, said: “If you got them all and wrapped them up, the deficit is astronomical. There doesn’t just seem to be enough money in education go around. All I hear is people talking about how hard and how difficult is. Let’s hope that the tide starts to turn sometime.”

Mr Pearson said he has spoken to other local councils about the deficits they are facing. He said: “Most of those that we have spoken to — other than holding their heads in their hands — have said it has been really difficult to put together anything like a credible deficit recovery plan.

“Some have refused to submit a deficit recovery plan. Others have said, ‘yes OK we will recover the deficit over a 20-year period’, whereas the plans that are called for are supposed to recover the deficit within a three to five-year period.” 

He compared the underfunding of schools to that of social care. He said: “It’s up to the new government to take on board some of these issues.” 

Reverend Mark Bennet, of the Diocese of Oxford, asked when the deficit becomes a practical problem. He said: “The time when it hits, is when cash flows are insufficient to pay bills. Have we any idea if carry on running deficits at this current level, when that will be?” 

Mr Pearson said: “We need an answer from the people at the Department for Education to that question.” He called for more investment and earlier interventions in helping children with higher levels of need, to ‘tackle this in a real structural way’.