PLANS to 'raid' the schools budget to find an extra £1m for pupils with special needs have been described as ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ – as headteachers warn it will not be enough to cover cuts that have already come into force.

Dorset County Council has launched a consultation with schools on how to allocate Government funding for education for the coming financial year. The pot of money received is called the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) – which is split into early years, schools and a High Needs Block (HNB), which supports children with special needs.

The county council is recommending moving 0.5 per cent of the schools block into the HNB, which would generate an extra £1.065m for vulnerable pupils.

More funding has been made available for schools for 2018/19 by the Department of Education, with the schools block increasing by £5.5m (from £207.5m to £213m) and the HNB increasing by £250,000 (from £38.3m to £38.5m).

But schools have spoken out about concerns over what this means for pupils who do not have higher needs.

Kevin Broadway, headteacher of All Saints School in Weymouth, said: “It is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s not something All Saints approves of and I have made my feelings known.”

He added that Dorset schools are ‘hugely underfunded’. 

“We have been campaigning so hard to have the school block fund improved through the Fairer Funding Formula and we are just at the point where it seems we are winning that battle. It seems more than a shame now to start raiding the HNB.”

Dozens of schools hit out in March over plans to slash funding for children with special needs to plug a £5.2m hole in the HNB. After the outcry, £1.6m – which was carried forward from the DSG – was put towards making an easier transition, though schools were warned cuts would still have to be implemented.

Helen Farmer, headteacher of St Mary’s CE Primary School in Bridport, said a new banding system implemented as part of those cuts meant some schools have seen 50 per cent of their budgets lost.

She added: “We should be protecting our most vulnerable children. But the new funding formula is not going anywhere near making up that shortfall.

“It’s a dilemma for everyone and there are no winners in this, including the local authority. These are desperate times.”

Kay Taylor, executive principal of the Minerva Learning Trust, which represents a number of schools in Bridport, said she was ‘disappointed’ that cuts to SEND went ahead and, while they were necessary because of the HND block overspend, they have left schools suffering.

She added: “I was very pleased to hear that Dorset County Council have received more money for education as we are undoubtedly one of the Local Authorities who are underfunded by central government when it comes to education.

“Any increase in the money coming into the county is good news for schools.”  

“However, I would not support moving money from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block.  The money in the Schools Block needs to continue to support all schools and to go to them to allow the Heads of these schools to decide their priorities. If this is moved to the High Needs Block to address that deficit schools will continue to lose out.”

County council campaigning for fairer funding

FUNDING for schools comes from central government, and the Dorset Schools’ Forum, which includes head teachers and school governors, decides how the money is given to local schools, following advice from the county council based on evidence of children’s needs.

DCC said that, in Dorset, the High Needs Block has not increased by more than four per cent since 2014, yet demand for SEND Education, Health and Care Plans for pupils has increased by 25 per cent. 

Cllr Deborah Croney, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for education, learning and skills, said: “We welcome the additional funding for our schools, but still need to balance tackling pressures on the schools’ budget with meeting the increasing demand to support children with SEND. It’s important that the money is allocated in a way that addresses areas of greatest pressure and helps all pupils reach their full potential.

“We understand that this an area of concern for our schools and will be consulting with them on these proposals before they are taken to the Schools’ Forum in December. We will continue to campaign at every opportunity for better and fairer funding for Dorset schools. We have written to Dorset MPs to ask for their support.”