HEADTEACHERS in West Berkshire have said they are reluctant to make further budget cuts to high needs education, despite a growing deficit.

The high needs block is the budget spent on children and young people with special needs and disabilities, and pupil referral units.

But the increasing demand for those services has not met the money available in West Berkshire since 2016.

READ MORE: Education boss unaware of schools’ views on budget crisis

So West Berkshire Council proposed three places where the high needs budget could be cut — 

  1. Removing the specialist inclusion support service, which helps children with learning difficulties in mainstream schools, would save £50,000. But Melanie Ellis, the council’s chief accountant, said this could lead to children and staff being “unable to access suitable support”. 
  2. The pupil referral unit outreach service has already been cut from £197,000 in 2015 to £61,200 currently. But removing it completely would risk more children being permanently excluded, and mean less support for schools in reintegrating young people who have been permanently excluded from other schools. 
  3. Cutting the cognition and learning team could save £50,000, but would risk reducing special needs expertise and training of school staff. This could reduce “capacity to address concerns” raised previously by parents of special needs education.

READ MORE: Most schools in West Berkshire forecasting budget deficits next year

But headteachers and those on the schools forum — where headteachers, governors and councillors meet regularly — were “reluctant” to explore those options further.

This year, the planned overspend of high needs education in West Berkshire is £2,209,793, and next year £3,374,029.

At a meeting of the schools forum on January 20, Ian Pearson, the council’s head of education, said: “The saving options don’t add up un any shape or form to the level of overspend.” 

He explained that some of the budget savings which have already been made, have costed money in the long term — as they increase pressure elsewhere in the education system. 

Mr Pearson said: “Some of the savings which have been made … have potentially not been long term savings, but actually costing money in due course because you are taking out some of those earlier supports.”

The schools forum voted not to explore those options ahead of when the budget is approved in March.

The forum also narrowly voted to take £261,000 from their main budget and spend on the high needs block: eight voted in favour and seven against. 

Councillor Dominic Boeck (Con, Aldermaston), lead for education, previously said he didn’t know why some schools were against the transfer, as he had not read the responses to a council consultation asking headteachers for their views.