Dedicated Schools Grant

I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

DSG deficits

1.      Please state the cumulative (i.e. multi-year not in-year) Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) net surplus or deficit position on 31st March 2024

2.     Please state the cumulative DSG net surplus or deficit position on 31st March 2025

3.     Please state the most recent forecast of the cumulative DSG net surplus or deficit position for 31st March 2026. Please state what month or quarter of the financial year this forecast is correct to.

4.     Please state the most recent forecast of the cumulative DSG net surplus or deficit position for 31st March 2028

5.     If the council is forecasting an in-year DSG deficit in 2025/26, what percentage of the council's total DSG grant funding for 2025/26 is this in-year deficit equal to? For the purpose of this question, an in-year deficit should be measured relative to a balanced outturn, rather than being measured relative to any pre-planned in-year deficit.

6.     In what financial year is the cumulative DSG deficit currently forecast to be cleared? This question does not apply if there is both no deficit at present and no deficit forecast for future years

7.     If the council's DSG reserve is currently in a cumulative deficit position, has the council estimated (or calculated) the annual direct or indirect cost to the council of carrying this deficit - and if so, what is that estimated/calculated annual cost? This cost may arise in a number of ways, potentially including (these are all real examples from councils):

a.     the direct cost of interest on borrowing to fund or effectively cover the DSG reserve deficit

b.     the deficit reducing the council's ability extent to internally borrow from its working capital balances, thus forcing the council to borrow externally quicker than it otherwise would at high interest rates

c.     carrying a deficit means the council has access to less cash than it would otherwise, meaning the council effectively forgoes potential interest on investment, increasing pressure on the General Fund NMISS placement costs

8.     For each academic year from 2022/23 to 2025/26 inclusive, how many SEND children with council-funded EHCPs were placed in non-maintained independent special schools (NMISS) within the local authority area?

9.     For each academic year from 2022/23 to 2025/26 inclusive, what was the average cost to the council per child (i.e. unit cost] of funding a SEND child with a council-funded EHCP to go to an NMISS school within the local authority area (please use a forecast/estimate for 2025/26 if necessary)?

10.  For each academic year from 2022/23 to 2025/26 inclusive, how many SEND children with council-funded EHCPs were placed in non-maintained independent special schools (NMISS) outside the local authority area?

11.  For each academic year from 2022/23 to 2025/26 inclusive, what was the average cost to the council per child [i.e. unit cost] of funding a SEND child with a council-funded EHCP to go to an NMISS school outside the local authority area (please use a forecast/estimate for 2025/26 if necessary)?

Schools in deficit

12.  Please provide a list of maintained schools that registered a cumulative revenue deficit at the end of 2024/25

13.  Please provide a list of maintained schools that are forecast to register a cumulative revenue deficit at the end of 2025/26

14.  Please provide a list of maintained schools that are forecast to register a cumulative revenue deficit at the end of 2027/28

15.  Please provide a list of maintained schools that are forecast to register a cumulative revenue deficit three years in a row

16.  Please provide copies of the existing deficit reduction plans of maintained schools in the council area as agreed by the council

1. Underspend £14.301 million.

2. Underspend £0.484 million.

3. Overspend £25.284 million.

4. Overspend £133.580 million.

5. 2.98%

6. DSG is forecast to remain overspent in the medium term. Local transformational work is ongoing to mitigate the trajectory of increased costs, however national reform is required to address DSG deficit.

7. The DSG reserve was in a cumulative surplus at the end of 2024/25. It will however go into a cumulative deficit during 2025/26, the Local Authority are currently working through the implications of this, however, it is anticipated the DSG deficit will impact the Council's borrowing and will require the Council to borrow whereas in the past this would not have been the case.

8. Financial Year as this is how we record placements:

• 2022-2023 – 203
• 2023-2024 -245
• 2024-2025 -374
• 2025-2026 (So Far) - 435

9. Financial Year as this is how we record placements:

• 2022-2023 - £ 62,521.60
• 2023-2024 - £ 82,598.34
• 2024-2025 - £ 77,855.39
• 2025-2026 (So Far) - £69,255.90

10. Financial Year as this is how we record placements:

• 2022-2023 - 119
• 2023-2024 - 115
• 2024-2025 – 141
• 2025-2026 (So Far) -127

11. Financial Year as this is how we record placements:

• 2022-2023 - £100,487.43
• 2023-2024 - £ 98,815.05
• 2024-2025- £100,042.30
• 2025-2026 (So Far) - £96,091.41

12.

13. The information below is taken from when schools set their budgets in the summer term of 2025, not all schools have completed a forecast for this financial year therefore the below is not the current up to date position.